Myra
by Laanye
Summary: Myra is called to aid the Kingdom of Ash with her strange abilities. She is accompanied by an odd assortment of friends and has mystical help on the way. Can Myra save the Kingdom of Ash? Who is helping her? Is evil, truly evil? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The wind blew into the open window on the top floor. It swept past the dingy brown colored curtains into the small closet sized room. The only furniture was an old rusty metal-framed bed and a beat up dresser that barely fit into the tiny room. The wind flounced onto the bed and playfully whispered into a half hidden figure buried under old blankets full of holes. The figure groggily sat up and yawned.

"I know it's morning, now go!" the figure said half-asleep with irritation. In an instant the wind had stopped and the figure slowly stood up. "Great" she huffed as she pulled her chestnut colored hair into a messy ponytail, "I'm going to be late!" She quickly pulled on a faded green t-shirt and jeans, then eyed herself in the mirror. Her short hair didn't look too greasy in the ponytail but she put on a hat anyways; it hid her face. She cringed when she heard someone coming up the creaky steps.

"Girl! Your late for breakfast… again!" a squeaky old withered female voice screamed up the steps, "I'm adding more chores to your list!" The female slammed the door at the bottom of the steps. The girl sighed, slid on a pair of ill-fitted shoes and made her way down to the cafeteria for breakfast.

As she passed by groups of girls, she could hear them whispering and felt their eyes warily stare at her. They jumped out of her way and made sure when she looked at them seem immensely interested with something on the floor. She made her way to the large metal cafeteria doors. She took a deep breath and opened them.

All the conversation in the room stopped. The girls all stared at their trays laden with gourmet food. No one made a protest when she cut in front of them in the line for breakfast. The one eyed cook who was serving breakfast spooned a measly morsel of what looked like gray sludge onto the girl's trey; last years outdated tuna fish. "If you cut, you pay" the cook muttered. Everyone in the room held their breadth and waited to see what would happen.

"You're new here aren't you?", the girl pulled up her hat so she could look directly into the cook's eye. The cook slowly looked up into the unnerving gaze of the girl. The cook flinched and moaned but could not look away from the girl's yellow eyes. She groaned and tears began to stain her face. "Stop!" she whispered with her voice full of agony.

The girl smiled wearily, and said, "Say please." The cook groaned and murmured a response. "Say please." The girl said more firmly this time.

"Myra!" said the loud squeaky voice from before, making Myra break her gaze. "Stop this instant and come here!" Myra spun around and pulled her hat over her eyes again. She haughtily walked over to the head mistress and made a mock bow. The head mistress grabbed Myra's arm and took her to her office. As they left Myra could hear all the conversations start up again.

Myra could smell the overpowering smell of perfume before they had even opened the pink door. The head mistress motioned for Myra to sit down on the pink couch and walked over to the file cabinet in the corner. Myra took in the pink desk, chairs, couches, tables, and floors noticing that nothing had changed except for the plaque on the wall. The plaque was the only thing that wasn't pink in the room. On it was the inscription; _World Class Girls Home _with other words she couldn't make out.

Myra chuckled wryly, "If only they knew how ironic that is," she mumbled under her breath. The head mistress swirled around to face Myra and frowned, "What did you say?" she hissed. Myra said nothing but examined the head mistress from head to toe with a superior smile playing on her face. The head mistress was dressed in a long pink dress, with a matching shawl that made her gray hair stand out even more. The gray hair was pulled tightly into a bun that made her sharp birdlike facial structure stand out. A large wart protruded from the tip of her nose that finished off her terrifying look.

"I said, what did you say?!" the head mistress screeched. Myra blinked and gave the head mistress a blank look. "I didn't say anything." The head mistress frowned but went back to the file cabinet. Myra sighed, and waited impatiently for the head mistress to be done.

"Ah, here we are!" the head mistress said abruptly as she pulled out a large pink folder stuffed with papers. She opened it and sorted through them. "It seems that this is the tenth time this semester that you have…erm…" she paused as she searched for the right word, "gotten into trouble." She looked up at Myra whose face was expressionless. The head mistress continued, "I have told you not to cause problems and keep your head down or wear a hat to hide your eyes. I know you're smart; you are the top in your class. So why won't you listen to me?" Myra bitterly told her (for the hundredth time) that people treated her cruelly and she didn't see why such swine should not get what was coming to them.

Myra thought silently to herself, _Everyone in this world stupid world is cruel selfish pigs that destroy everything they come in contact with and are cruel. They don't think that anything they do is wrong; they live in their own little world; unlike me._ Myra blinked and looked up to see the head mistress staring at her. "What?" she asked trying to interpret what the head mistress was thinking.

"I am trying to decide what to do with you" she said. After a brief thought she said with a wicked grin, "since chores don't seem to stop your unruly behavior, I think I'll take away your free time in the woods or with your silly little books!" Myra's face was stone; it was unnerving to see how emotionless it was. She crisply said "fine" and got up to leave. "Another thing," the head mistress said, "Your food will be brought to you in your room, so as not to have an incident as this morning. Now off to class." The head mistress waved Myra away and sank into her pink chair with a sigh.

Myra couldn't help but notice all the stares she was getting as she walked to class. _They stare because they are frightened of me, _she thought but it did not brighten her mood. As she entered the classroom, Mrs. Loft, her favorite teacher stared at her as well. Myra had never realized how much people were uncomfortable around her. Myra sat in the back and tried to immerse herself into the curriculum like she normally did.

Myra tried to pay attention to Mrs. Loft's lesson but couldn't. Students were moving their desks slowly away from Myra and were eying her with distrust and were panicky that she would look them in the eyes. Myra closed her eyes as to concentrate better but it didn't help. _It won't hurt not to pay attention one day,_ she decided,_ after all I'm way ahead of my class! _

Myra stared listlessly out the window. It was a bright sunny day with breezes rustling the tree's leaves gently. The school was beside Unton Wood, most of the adults did not like the children going into them but they did so anyways. The wood was bright and cheery with wildflowers growing everywhere. In the middle of the wood was a large tree with vines twisted around the trunk. Myra had often gone there when she needed to think or just read. She was the only one who knew her way around the whole wood; instead of playing tag or picking flowers, she would go exploring. Myra sighed and mentally wished that it was the end of the day so she could go outside.

Myra was snapped out of her daydream when she realized that Mrs. Loft had asked her a question. "Do you think that this is free time?" Mrs. Loft said haughtily. The girls snickered and watched intently to see what would happen.

"No, Mrs. Loft", Myra said as she hung her head.

"Then what do you think you are doing?" Mrs. Loft said with a frown. Myra couldn't believe this ghastly lady was her favorite teacher, how could she be so uncaring? " "Thinking, about your wonderful lesson!" Myra said with sarcasm oozing like honey from her mouth.

"Enough of your disrespect, girl! I don't care how smart you are!" Mrs. Loft said with a snarl, "Come here!" Myra slowly walked up the aisle to the front of the room with twenty eyes watching her keenly. Mrs. Loft addressed the class with a firm voice, "Watch, and you will see what happens when you talk back!" Myra closed her eyes and waited for the pain as Mrs. Loft swung the ruler at her.

Myra winced when she sat on her bed; her butt was still very sore. She couldn't help but think of the anger that had radiated from Mrs. Loft. She sighed; it had been a long day. In every class the teachers had watched her very intently, waiting for her to do something wrong and punish her harshly. They would call her up to the front of the room then… she shuddered when she thought of the punishment. The punishment wasn't too cruel if the teacher didn't use too much strength or anger but all the teachers' anger was pouring out of their ears and Myra got the blunt of it. Then to make it worse, the head mistress made Myra do chores upon chores and did not let her go outside; except to clean the windows, the world was cruel.

Myra sighed and decidedly fell asleep until her dinner was brought up to her.

In her dream, Myra was in her reading tree, as usual, but the leaves were a darker more olive green then normal. She was sitting on sturdy branch with an old book in hand. The wind was whipping her hair everywhere and that but she didn't mind. Myra had the sense of waiting for someone and hummed while she waited. She heard someone climbing up but before she could look to see who it was a banging came from nowhere, waking Myra instantly.

Myra jumped to her feet and opened her door. The one eyed cook was standing in the doorway with a tray of food in hand. She handed Myra the tray and said with her gruff voice, "Leave the tray on the steps when your done and I'll get someone to pick it up later." Myra nodded and stared at the cook's disfigured face. The left eye was stitched shut with tiny bumps all over the eye-lid. Her pug nose was lopsided and her lips had scabs over them. The cook's one good eye was a too bright blue and the pupil was a strange shape. _She can't see so well, I shouldn't have added to her pain; it makes me as bad as the rest of the world. And she was only doing it so I wouldn't cut in line… _ Myra thought abruptly as she lowered her eyes when the cook realized she was staring.

"What are you looking at? Your not a much better sight for the eyes either!" the cook exclaimed with vehemence. Myra mumbled an apology, quickly shut the door and sat down painfully to eat her dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Rowan sat cross-legged on the floor with scrolls piled around him. He yawned and pulled his long blonde hair away from his eyes. As his eyes tiredly made their way down the scroll, he tapped his finger impatiently on his lap. He threw the scroll down with disgust and picked up another with an irritated sigh. As he read his eyes grew large and he bit his lip; he had found what he was looking for.

He stood up abruptly and ran to the door where a girl with the same golden colored hair as him was standing. Her smile vanished when she realized how grim he was looking. "Rowan, have you found it?" she asked puzzled. Rowan's blue eyes met her blue eyes and she knew that he had and it contained nothing but bad news. Rowan smiled wearily and whispered into her ear, "I'll tell you later, Ornella."

Ornella waited impatiently in the study. She paced back and forth in the room. The torches lit the walls gave off an eerie blue light, giving the room an unearthly look. The walls were lined with bookshelves that held old books and scrolls that were rare or used frequently. In the middle of the room was a large desk with quills and parchment scattered everywhere. She smiled when she thought of the numerous times her father had sat there with a quill in hand writing to various people or reading an important scroll. She was snapped out of the past when Rowan walked briskly into the room. He groaned when he realized she was there.

"Ornella…"

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No!"

"I'll tell Peking about that time you broke his favorite sword if you don't let me!" Ornella said angrily. Rowan sighed and sat down wearily at desk chair. He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a scroll.

"This" he began, "is the letter we got from father. He and the troops are fighting hard but the enemy is persistent. It seems that they have numerous re-enforcements and they care only to defeat us. Most of our sorcerers are dead from exhaustion, our enemy hasn't even brought out the dragons." Rowan paused, "as far as I'm concerned we're fighting a lost cause". Ornella frowned, "What happened to my cheerful older brother who thought the world was all fun and games?" Ornella examined her brother carefully; his gold-colored hair hung droopily on his head and his normally bright blue eyes were dark and dismal. Underneath his eyes were dark circles and his clothes hung limply on his stooped frame.

Rowan sighed, his sister couldn't understand what he was going through, "I never knew… I ignored my duties and must… everything I say or do affects everyone's lives, I am not ready to take father's place. I am just a young fool who blindly stumbles through his duties. Ornella, I can't be king, I'm just a teenager for goodness sake! Why, oh, why, did I ever get put in this position?" Rowan clenched his fists and bit his lip; he had to be strong just like the tree he was name after, rowan. He had to defend the kingdom like the tree did against evil sorcerers, he sighed; he didn't have what it took.

Ornella frowned; usually it was Rowan comforting her, not the other way around. "Rowan, you might not have to be king for a while. We should still have hope; father isn't dead. You're older than Grandpa when he inherited the throne, and your much wiser. No one ever said being king was going to be easy, especially in this day and age. Your doing fine, all the court is pleased with how your doing and they think you'll make a great ruler. Rowan, you're an important part of our family…besides" she said with a chuckle, "imagine me being king!"

At this, Rowan looked up and laughed, "Your right, it's just that I used to goof off so much! I should have been helping father, and learning what to do…" he stared off into space.

Ornella shook her head, "No, you were being a kid, that's what father wanted." With that she walked over to Rowan and gave him a big hug that made Rowan blush with embarrassment.

Rowan stood up and gave her a silly grin, "Well, if you put it that way…" he grabbed a handful of parchment from the desk and threw it at her. Ornella shrieked and ran after him with a dull quill. The "fight" ensued for several more minutes until they were both laughing hysterically on the floor.

"Heh, hem", a voice came out of nowhere that made Rowan and Ornella freeze. "And what do you think you two are doing?" the voice said. Ornella and Rowan stood up quickly and turned around. In the doorway stood an old man; he wore a dark blue cloak and leaned on an old ash walking stick. His long snow-white beard and light green eyes gave him a wizened appearance. His left eyebrow was raised questioningly and his eyes twinkled with amusement.

The old man glanced at Ornella, then addressed Rowan, "Both of you are not to be down here at the same time. Rowan, you should be setting the example for your sister!" He eyed the scattered parchment, "Not playing childish games…" Rowan and Ornella hung their heads and began to pick up the parchment. A large paper ball hit Rowan in the back of the head. "…Without me!" the old man exclaimed as he threw more at Rowan and Ornella. Rowan laughed and threw a paper ball at his cheery sister.

"I think that this war is won!" the old man chuckled. "R_edeo!" _he said making all the parchment went back to their orderly places. Ornella giggled when a stray piece of parchment tried to put its self away in her hair. She plucked it out and set it on the desk. "K'linne, am I decent looking after that diversion from our grievances?" Ornella said twirling around and giggling some more.

"In that dress, of course! It makes you look like a mop!" Rowan said making Ornella frown until Rowan began to laugh. Making her erupt into another spasm of giggles.

K'linne frowned, "What were you two discussing that was so depressing?" Ornella glanced at Rowan who nodded, "We were talking about the war…" K'linne murmured something and three chairs appeared for them to sit on. She bit her lip then recounted the whole conversation. K'linne frowned; _we have been too hard on the boy. _He glanced at Rowan then said, "Unless there is a miracle we will surely lose." Rowan and Ornella sank into their chairs with a sigh.

Everyone was silent until Rowan's outburst, "No, we will not loose! I swear it, as prince and one-day king, I swear that we will not loose. Our enemy's are strong but we are the kingdom of Ash and as Ash we will not loose!" Rowan said with feeling. Ornella smiled, stood up and gave Rowan a hug for such a wonderful speech.

K'linne stayed silent and stood up, "How do you plan to defeat the enemy, Rowan?" Rowan frowned and tried to think of a solution. "Ummm… I thought you guys would have an idea.", he said lamely. Ornella smiled, "I know! Lets get The Folk to help us!"

Rowan rolled his eyes, "The Folk? They're just a myth!" Ornella bit her lip and shook her head, "they're real."

"No, they're just a fairy tale!"

"They're real!"

"No they're not!"

"Yes they are!"

"No they're not!

"Quit fighting you two!" K'linne said with an intimidating tone. He rubbed his temple then said, "You are both right, The Folk do exist but they probably wouldn't help us, so its as if they don't exist. I don't know where we could find them and they have powerful magic that hides them from my scrying glass. I don't know who is powerful enough to find them but… there has to be someone…"

Rowan sighed, "Were doomed!" he sank into the chair and ran his fingers through his hair. Ornella watched with disgust for her brother's pathetic behavior.

"K'linne, couldn't you just scry the person powerful enough… maybe they would help us?" she said with a smile. K'linne thought for a moment then nodded his head.

"Do not be alarmed when I scry, everything that will happen is normal" he warned. K'linne took a step backwards then made his palm face upward. A small hand held mirror appeared in his hand. The mirror was old and rusty, and etched into it was weird runes and symbols. He stared into it with intense concentration, while doing so he chanted in a peculiar language that sounded meaningless. His eyes rolled back into his head showing the whites of his eyes. Wind came from nowhere and blew the neat parchment into disarray within seconds.

K'linne moaned, his eyes went back to normal and the winds stopped. K'linne sank to the floor and said before he passed out, "I'm not a strong as I used to be."

K'linne opened his eyes and realized that he was still in the study. Ornella and Rowan were standing over him with a look of concern on their faces. Within seconds the images from the scrying glass came back to him. "Are you alright?" Ornella asked guiltily. K'linne nodded his head and stood up, his old bones creaking as he stretched them.

"I have found who is powerful enough…" K'linne said, "I searched all of the worlds and there are two people that have the power to find The Folk." K'linne bit his lip and looked to see what their reactions would be. They were both all smiles until Rowan asked with a frown, "What if they won't help us?" Ornella and Rowan's faces fell and their sadness enveloped K'linne in a large wave. Rowan continued, "Who are they, and where can we find them?"

K'linne frowned, "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Ornella and Rowan simultaneously exclaimed, "Bad."

K'linne frowned, this was going to make them very dismal, "The bad news is that the more trained and better prepared sorcerer for this task is none other than your half-brother." Ornella gave K'linne a confused look and looked at Rowan to see if he knew anything about it.

Rowan jumped up and cursed, "That… that… wicked creature in charge of the whole war, is the only one who can stop it!? That filthy half-blood? All hope is lost, we are done for!" He continued to curse violently and clenched his fists in anger.

Ornella turned white, she had another brother and he was in charge of trying to destroy half of the kingdom? How could they not tell her? Didn't she need to know that she had a half-brother out there, even if he was evil? K'linne watched them calmly, absorbing how they were taking the news.

He coughed softly, "Heh, hem" making Ornella and Rowan turn their heads at the same time to see what he was going to say. K'linne placidly, "The good news is that someone else is powerful enough." Ornella and Rowan looked relieved and K'linne continued, "They are untrained but I sensed the raw power immediately." K'linne smiled at the two teenagers, waiting for their response.

"Where can we find him and will he help us?" Rowan asked.

"She" K'linne said with emphasis, "lives on a primitive world with no magic whatsoever. It seems that she was born there but her linage is from this world. She knows nothing of magic but would most likely help us." K'linne added a silent, _I hope so…_

Ornella smiled, "It'll be good to have another girl around, lets go get her! I wonder if on her primitive world they have a good fashion sense?" Ornella giggled and ran out of the room, "I'll be back, I want to get something!" K'linne turned to Rowan who was staring off into space.

"K'linne are you sure she will help us?" Rowan asked when his sister had left the room. K'linne silently whispered a prayer, "Yes, she will…" Rowan smiled satisfied, _ I wonder if she'll be like mother, tall and willowy with gray hair mixed in with her blonde… Maybe K'linne will fall in love…_ it would be nice for K'linne to have a distraction from watching him and Ornella. Rowan smiled, then he daydreamed off into space about the mischief he could get into.

Ornella ran back into the room, her cheeks flushed, holding something behind her back. K'linne grinned, "Are you ready to go?" Ornella and Rowan nodded their heads. K'linne smiled and raised his staff and they were gone within a blink of an eye they were gone except for a fluttering piece of parchment.

"What's going on?" Rowan yelled. All three of them were falling into swirls of colors and random shapes. It was a swirling vortex full of horrible noise. K'linne seemed unaffected by the horrible noise. The noise was unbearable, it was a mix between nails on a chalkboard and a soprano hitting her highest note all magnified hundreds of times. Rowan shut his eyes and put his hands over his ears but it didn't stop. He felt like his head was going to explode.

Just as sudden as the noise had started it stopped. Rowan opened his eyes. The swirling colors were no more and all was silent. Rowan sighed with relief and decided to see where they were. They were in a small dirty room with hardly any furniture. The furniture was old and rusty with age. Lying on the bed was a girl staring at them. Her expression was one of intense observation and surprisingly, expectance. Rowan stared as he took in the girl's grubby appearance. He caught his breath; her eyes were yellow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

That morning, Myra had woken up with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her breakfast was waiting for her outside the door. _That instance last week with the cook hasn't been forgotten_, Myra thought glumly. She slowly ate the cold oatmeal, to savor the pinch of cinnamon; the cook still didn't like her. A knock came on the door making Myra jump up with surprise. She opened the door hesitantly to see the head mistress standing in the doorway.

Myra gulped, "What are you doing here m'am?", she asked politely. The head mistress was dressed in all pink and wore a matching pink beret. Myra hated pink; the sight of it drove her crazy. The fact that she hated it probably had to do with the repulsive figure in her doorway.

The head mistress said nothing but stared at Myra keenly. Her crucial gaze made Myra shift uncomfortably and stare at the floor. Finally after a long time the head mistress spoke, "I think your punishment is up and you deserve a break…" Myra's mouth dropped open in astonishment, and closed it quickly because the head mistress hated rudeness. The head mistress smiled, giving Myra the chills. "…You do not have to go to lessons today and may read and do whatever you like as long as you are not in the kitchens or causing trouble. In other words, you have a 'free day.'"

Myra paused and tried to think of a time the head mistress had been nice to her. Ever since she was born everyone had hated her, in fact no one had ever shown kindness to her. She considered that it might be a trick but in light of that fact she agreed. The head mistress gave her another chilling smile and left the room.

_That was weird_, Myra said with a sigh and finished her breakfast. The feeling in her stomach didn't go away, instead it magnified. Myra assumed that she was fighting a bug and ignored it. She grabbed her "exploring" backpack and hummed nonchalantly as she headed towards the Unton wood.

As she passed by classroom windows she watched her fellow pupil's reactions to her "free day." Most of the students watched her loathingly but did nothing. Other students (mostly teacher's pets) pointed at her and asked the teacher why that girl was allowed a "free day." Myra stuck out her tongue at them, as they stared, then ran into the Unton woods.

The moment she was in the woods she felt as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders and immediately slowed to a walk. Myra exhaled a deep sigh and ran her hand on the rough bark of an old pine tree. She breathed in the wonderful pine scent then walked deeper into the wood. The sun shined threw the leaves and squirrels and chipmunks chattered while birds sang their sweet song. A small brook gurgled nearby and all was at peace. Myra could relax and be herself without everyone staring at her for being different. In the woods, she could be who she wanted to be and be in permanent bliss.

Before she knew it she was in the middle of the woods, standing beside a giant tree. The tree was humongous; it's smallest leaves were the size of an adult sized hand. Vines crawled around its trunk and the tree stood about the same size as a redwood. Myra had tried looking up what kind of tree it was but after countless searches she still couldn't figure out what it was. It seemed to her that it was the last of its kind, unique from other trees. Unique and different just like her.

As she shimmied up the trunk of the tree her mind lay elsewhere. Myra was pondering the unanswered questions that constantly nagged her. She had lived her entire life at the girls home. Her "guardian", the head mistress had told her for as long as she could remember that her parents had left her there because they hated her. She also said that the only reason Myra wasn't allowed to be adopted was because of her "unusual birth defect." At that point in the conversation, the head mistress would smirk unpleasantly and say with arrogance that no one would want to adopt her anyways.

Myra snapped back to reality when her hand slipped on a loose vine. She hung there for a couple of seconds catching her breath then continued climbing until she reached her reading branch. The branch was the largest branch in the whole tree; Myra didn't have to worry about falling off. Hidden in a knot on the branch were a couple bags of chips and a water bottle that Myra had sneaked from the kitchen while the cook was asleep.

Myra pulled herself onto the sturdy branch with ease, then took off her backpack to rummage threw it. In her bag was a spiral bound notebook with stories and drawings about the forest that she had done. She also had another notebook with poems she had written or songs that popped into her head. A zip-lock baggie held six pencils and a handheld pencil sharpener. The last thing was an old beaten up book from the school library.

Myra grabbed the library book from her bag and engrossed herself into the story. The story was about the boy named Arthur who became the king of Camelot. It was Myra's favorite book and always gave her hope that one day something good would happen to her like Arthur.

Suddenly, she dropped her book and groaned. Her stomach felt like it was on fire and she could do nothing about it. She clenched her teeth and lay there still, waiting for the pain to go away. She rolled up into a ball, closed her eyes, and tears wet her cheeks. Her eyes opened abruptly but her eyes were unseeing; they were elsewhere looking at other things.

Just as abruptly as it had begun, it stopped. Myra's eyes slowly focused and she blinked as if not knowing where she was. "I must go," she whispered shakily, "I must go back to my room. I must!" She grabbed her bag and made her way down the tree, not even picking up the book that had fallen minutes ago from the reading branch. Myra walked as if in a trance and whispering, "I must, I must" over and over again. She began to run; through the forest, into the school, past bewildered students, up the attic steps and into her bedroom.

Myra sank onto her bed with a sigh and snapped out of her trance. "Where am I?" she murmured, "I was just…", within seconds it came back to her. "That pain! The horrible pain, and yet…" she paused "it brought me a vision. It was so strong, my visions have never happened like that before… but I must be here for their arrival, whoever _they_ may be!" She sat there waiting for what seemed like hours but no one showed up. Eventually sleep took over and she was in dreamland.

Myra instantly awoke when she heard the music. The music was beautiful; it reminded her of all of her favorite things put together into music. This music was even better then her favorite by far; she could listen to it all her life and be happy. The music grew louder and Myra waited patiently for her visitors.

So, when she first saw them, it took her breath away. Their clothes were exquisite and very intricate. They wore velvet and had in every sense the "royal touch." Looking past the clothes, she saw that two of them were around her age. The oldest, and the boy had curly blonde hair and eyes were bright blue with specks of green that looked exactly as same as the girl's next to him. The girl had long gold colored curly hair that reminded Myra of fairytale princesses. In all they had a very royal atmosphere around them. She turned her head to look at the tall figure beside them. He was dressed in a dark blue robe and was dressed more practically then the other two. (If robes were practical) His snow-white beard was long and he wore moon shaped spectacles. He looked old and weary but his eyes were as young and jubilant as anyone her age could be. He had a powerful aura of something she couldn't describe.

She waited for them to speak but they said nothing waiting for her response to this intrusion. She was about to speak but the boy interrupted her, "THIS is the one we were looking for? She's not much older than Ornella and she is way younger than me! She can't be the one, she's too young!" Myra stared at him angrily and before she knew it their eyes met. _Oh no!_ she grimaced as she waited for the visions. Myra inhaled a deep breath as the visions swept over her.

The boy was a toddler and was waddling around a large castle with a mischievous grin on his face. He waddled into an unused room of the castle and noticed the large dusty old four-poster bed. He crawled up the side of it and began to jump making the bed creak. Suddenly, the bed collapsed and the toddler burst into tears. All of the sudden, the vision changed. The boy was now older and was fencing with a sword. He knew he shouldn't it wasn't his but he wanted to use a real sword not a wooden one. The sword was too large for him and he fell off balance. Somehow the sword ended up stuck in the wall. Other visions pushed into her view; all of them embarrassing or secretive. The one that caught her attention the most was one that had probably happened a year ago. The boy (who she had founded out his name was Rowan because of the visions) was at a ball in his finest clothes and dancing silently with a young woman. After the dance ended, he bowed respectfully and looked for another partner. A girl caught his attention; she was unusual. She was in a dark blue dress and and had pale almost-white blonde hair. She was a head shorter then him and her hair was pulled back in a braid that reached her hips. By the way she carried herself, he could tell she didn't belong in the stuffy clothes, instead she belonged in the world doing something, like himself. She looked like she had good times and bad times. He quickly asked her to dance but she declined exclaiming that she was probably the worst dancer. He smiled shaking his head, saying he was probably the worst. She grabbed his hand and they slunk off into the palace garden. They walked around aimlessly just talking. Until they sat on a bench, promptly after which Rowan put his arm around her they kissed. Not just a peck but a full out kiss, it was repulsive yet extremely engrossing the same. They knew that they shouldn't; they weren't betrothed but they were in love besides it was only a kiss and she was leaving the next day.

All the sudden the visions stopped. Rowan was on the floor sweating with tears over flowing. "Leave her out of this!" Rowan hissed eyes clouded over still staring unseeing into her eyes. "She's done you no harm, in fact I haven't either!" The girl was trying to calm down Rowan but he didn't notice he was too caught up in the past. The old man was silently watching them with intense observation.

He snapped and Rowan's eyes slowly focused onto the real world. The old man shook his head then smiled, "I see that you have much power, my dear!" he addressing Myra. "I am K'linne, and this is Ornella and Rowan; we are here to ask for your help." Myra opened her mouth dumbfounded, "You must understand that you are different from everyone in this dry world" he sniffed, "your much better than all of them put together. They don't even realize your worth; you should be treated much better than this! Look at this horrible junk they give you; you deserve so much better! If you help us you will be my apprentice and great honor will be bestowed upon you. People will look up at you, not down; you deserve it!" His speech touched Myra's slight vanity and made her mind fill up with grandeur.

"Why do you need MY help? The world never seemed to care about me before or need my help!" Myra said angrily wondering if it was a trick. Rowan stood up, pushing away Ornella's help. The rude girl in front of him aggravated him. He looked her into her eyes and was ready for the visions; he had to show her that he wasn't afraid of those little demon-eyes. Both Myra and Rowan fell limp onto the ground the moment their eyes made contact. Ornella stared awestruck and K'linne bit his lip; what magic WAS this girl capable of?


	4. Chapter 4

"

**Chapter 4**

_Where am I?_ Myra was in a large room that reminded her of a medieval castle. The walls were draped with beautiful tapestries made of silk. The carpet was velvet and a dark color between the mix of purple and red. Myra walked down the corridor following the carpet and avoiding other hallways. Time was nothing it could have been seconds or hours before she reached the end of the hallway. She paused by them knowing this was where she needed to be.

_Who are you? What do you want? _ A voice said in her head, Myra tried to answer but when she opened her mouth to speak nothing came out. _Why can't I talk, _she thought bitterly. Surprisingly, the voice answered with a hearty tone,_ try thinking it and maybe I'll understand it!_

_Who are you? _Myra thought thinking of how much was behind those words. 

_Wisdom? I just try to be me, I don't have wisdom I'm just an unimportant person who knows a little bit of this and that._ _Now tell me… who are you and what's your business here?_

Myra smiled, _My name is Myra and I don't know what I'm doing here. I was…_she thought back to Rowan, K'linne and Ornella and she felt that whoever the voice was, they saw what she thought.

_Open the door, Myra you will see who I am. _The voice said softly. Myra opened the door and walked into the room. She saw a figure in the throne at the end of the room. She walked closer to the figure in order to see who this wise person was. He was of average height and his reddish brown hair was mixed with gray. He looked to be about forty.

_Who are you?_

He stood up and smiled, _My name is not important but what is important is that there is no greater honor than to be here; no one has ever done it before. I wanted you to be ready for this next step in your life._

_Like you care!_

_I do, more than you will ever know._

_Right…why am I here? _

_I don't know, probably so I can talk to you. The kingdom is in grave danger by dragons just like the King foretold._

_King?_

_A long time ago, a dragon of great evil ruled the land. The dragon hated everything good. A prophecy was foretold that a newborn male would overthrow him. He sent his loyal dragons to kill all newborn human male babes. They weren't successful and one day twenty years after that proclamation a young man gathered followers to rebel against the dragon. The DragonKing thought the young man unimportant and ignored him until it was too late. The young man had convinced people to join him overthrow the terrible Dragon King and he was overthrown. The Dragon King and the rest of the dragons that were still loyal to him fled into the mountains. The rest of the dragons who had never joined in evil gave the young man and his descendants a special gift that they knew would be useful in the future. They left the young man to rule because they knew he had a good heart and would not misuse his powers as king. His people loved him and they became prosperous. _

_One day a foreign man came to the court; he wished to be of service to the king by using his "special talent." Being fair and just, the King agreed as long as the man showed him what this talent was. The man said something in a language the King knew not and a pile of gold appeared on the ground before the King. Everyone was amazed but the King remained clear headed. "What witchery did you just perform? Only the dragons can do such things; what manner of beast are you?" the King asked. _

_ The foreign man irritably threw up his hands and the gold disappeared. His demeanor sunk into a furious state and he clenched his fists. "You say you're fair and just but you declare me similar to beasts! My people live all have similar talents My people were born this way but we are not much different than you! We need food and drink to survive! That gold was from our island; it is all we have. I just transported it as a way to show you we want to serve you anyway we can as citizens of your kingdom. In return you will let us live in your city and we may have jobs and may join your people equally and have the same protection." The foreign man took a deep breath and waited what the King would say._

_ "You may join my kingdom on one condition," the king said, "no harm will come to me or my people." The foreign man eagerly agreed and within the next year all of his people had left their old land and became part of the kingdom. The people of both lands became close and the King could not have separated them if he tried. They lived without incident for some time until the King found out what his gift was._

_One night while the King was asleep a lone figure appeared. The King woke up to see one of his court sorcerers in the doorway. The court sorcerer cast a death spell at the King and the next thing the King knew the sorcerer was dead. No one felt pity for the sorcerer except the King; his heart even felt compassion for the man who had tried to murder him. Later it was found out that the gift the Dragons had given him was to be resilient to harmful magic. Ever since the King his descendants have also had his gift and both people became one. Another gift that was given to him was the ability of prophesying and only once his descendant has been crowned can they inherit that ability. _He yawned and smiled as she took it all in. 

_So…did he prophesy that the Dragon King would attack again?_

_Yes._

_Why aren't they ready?_

_Excuse me? _

_Ready for his attack._

_He knew not when it would occur and he didn't know everything about what would happen. _He continued; _the land is peaceful and is not a land of war. They have little experience in it. They do have knights and guards but killing is not what they do. They could defeat the enemy if it was just the dragons but paid humans do the frontline work. The knights feel compassion even for the most reckless of the murderers that betray their race. Their only help is the Folk and the only way to reach them is through you._

_You have much power even though you are untrained. K'linne will make you his apprentice and you find them so the folk can help to defeat the enemy._ He paused as if adding emphasis to his words. _Will you help them?_

_Their world seems… I don't know more like an adventure rather than my boring lifestyle, I'll help. _

_How do I get out of here? _Myra asked after a pause of awkward silence.He closed his eyes and their surroundings melted into blackness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

K'linne was standing over both Rowan and Myra with a worried expression on his face when they opened their eyes. He looked like he was going to say something but stayed silent waiting to see if they were all right.

"What happened to you guys?" Ornella asked breaking the silence. "Suddenly you both collapse then the next minute your fine; what happened?" Ornella looked from one face to another pausing on Myra's. Myra's eyes were downcast and she kept glancing at Rowan. _I thought she would be someone who could help my brother get away from his suffering. Instead she added to it._ Ornella watched as both Rowan's and Myra silently mouthed Rowan a _sorry _making Rowan give her a strange look_. _ _Maybe she will be good for him…after all it looks like he isn't hurt._

"As I was saying, before that unusual incident…" K'linne began but Myra interrupted him, "I will come with you to defeat your enemy but I want to stay, for good." K'linne glanced at Rowan again wondering once again what had occurred. Rowan gave a shrug thinking the same thing_. "_So… how do we get there and where is there?" Myra asked glancing at K'linne.

K'linne grinned and raised his staff, that Myra had only just noticed and they were gone.

Myra was falling into swirling colors and shapes; it was falling yet it was not. It felt more like flying than falling she decided. The sweet tinkling of music was so beautiful; it made her want to go to sleep. Rowan and Ornella were taking the sensation entirely different; their hands were over their eyes and they had a pained expression on their faces. K'linne was humming softly to the music's tune and he looked years younger. Before Myra knew it they were standing in a medieval type chamber and the music had stopped.

"Where are we?" Myra asked taking in the solemn like feel of the place. "What are those?" she asked looking at the strange torches that glowed eerie red and gave her the shivers. No one answered her, "where are we?" she repeated. She turned around and no one was there. _What's going on?_ Myra thought shaking her head. Had they tricked her? What was going on? Myra took a deep breath and walked towards the menacing large oak door. She put her ear against it to see if she could hear anything.

A ghostly voice that made Myra shake came from outside the door. "The book you want is in here, I apologize for the mess." As the latch shook, she dived underneath a table with a black tablecloth that hid her from view. The door opened with a resounding squeak and the torches flickered. From underneath the table Myra could make out two pairs of feet moving quickly and silently as if not to be found out. The larger pair was transparent. The smaller pair (more around her size) was solid and wore black boots made out of some kind of leather.

"Is something wrong?" the eerie voice asked. The pale transparent shoes turned around to the leather boots that had stopped in their tracks. "Oh, oh, no! They found us out, didn't they?" the eerie voice said in a terrified tone. The leather boots said nothing but walked towards the table Myra was hiding under. "A spy? I wonder…" the voice said trailing off. She knew whoever they were, it wouldn't be good to be found out. _Please, _she thought,_ take me away from here…somebody… anybody… take me away from this place!_ As a hand reached to pull up the tablecloth, the world around Myra faded and gave away to darkness.

The darkness enveloped Myra like a blanket and she lost all senses. "Is she all right?" a voice asked, "What happened?" Myra tried to yell out but she couldn't she could only listen while the voices talked.

"I'm not sure what happened, she's alive though."

"Maybe she isn't used to our world?"

"Who knows…"

"Ornella, find Lorain to take Myra up to her room."

_Ornella…_The name sounded familiar, and Myra snapped her eyes open. Everything came back to her and she sat up. "What happened?" Myra asked dazedly. K'linne shook his head and motioned for her to be silent. Myra stared at the worried look on his face; noticing she was staring, K'linne smiled reassuringly. Rowan was nowhere in sight and she heard Ornella's footsteps echoing to who-knows-where. "Did something happen to Rowan?" Myra asked. K'linne shook his head and helped her up.

"No, nothing happened to Rowan but something did happen to you." K'linne said uncomfortably. "It's all my fault," he said when he saw Myra's blank look. "Somehow you got lost on the trip." K'linne continued, "Your magic must have snagged on something powerful; you are untrained. Traveling between worlds is dangerous; I didn't equip you well enough. In my stupidity did not think of the likelihood!" _So, how did I get here?_ Myra thought silently to herself. K'linne rattled on about his stupidity and did not pay attention to Myra. _You did it yourself! Remember? You wished to be somewhere else. _Myra thought as she grinned.

"Well, enough of this self-pity!" K'linne said, "What's done is done and foolishness is best forgotten than wallowing in what could have been. Come Myra, we have much to do!" Myra followed K'linne out the door into the most amazing place she had ever seen.

She was in a medieval castle and everything was elaborate with gems and satin and velvet. Wealth screamed into Myra's ears as she walked down corridors and passed various servants. Suits of armor decorated the hallways, as well as magnificent tapestries and large windows. K'linne walked with an air that immediately told a viewer, "This guy is important". Myra's eyes were wide open and she absorbed the beauty like a sponge.

"This is Lorain, she is to be your lady-in-waiting." K'linne said as the girl bowed. Lorain the same height as Myra and had short fiery red hair. Her cheeks had dozens of freckles and she looked very much out of place next to the grandeur of the castle. "She will show you to your room and will fit you into more appropriate attire." Lorain smiled and led Myra down another corridor.

"I thought a lady-in-waiting was only for royalty." Myra said after uncomfortable silence. Lorain said nothing and the pair continued walking down the maze of hallways. Myra decidedly stayed silent and wondered how large the castle really was. Lorain stopped in front a large door; she smiled opening the door.

Myra's mouth opened in astonishment; the room was humongous! A large four-poster bed lay in the center of the room and a roaring fire in a fireplace made the room toasty and had a homely feel to it. A huge closet lay by the window and another much smaller door led to the bathroom. "This is amazing!" Myra said with glee as she sat on the bed.

"I'm glad you like it." Lorain said. "To answer your question from earlier, lady-in-waitings are for any esteemed person that has the ability to have one." Myra smiled, "Imagine, me an important person!" Lorain smiled and drew Myra's bath.

Myra sank into the warm water with a grin and laughed when she realized how big the bath was. "I can bathe myself!" Myra said angrily when Lorain tried to help, (as is common for lady in waitings) "I'm not a baby!" Lorain eventually gave up and went to find a garment suitable for Myra.

When Myra was dried off and in a robe she came out to see the most beautiful dress laying on her bed. The dress was dark ivy green and had an ivy vine pattern on the bodice. Lorain smiled at Myra's glee and helped Myra into the dress.

"What's this?" Lorain asked looking at Myra's necklace. Myra blushed and looked down at the pale, milky white stone that was now a dark ivy green, "It was the only thing I have of my mother." Lorain nodded understandingly and smiled, "It even matches your dress! Let me find you a pair of earrings to go with it."

"What do you think?" Lorain asked as Myra looked in the mirror.

Myra smiled, "I look like a princess!" Lorain beamed, "I did good then? That means you are presentable to dine!"

"Dine?" Myra asked paling. Lorain nodded, then noticing the terror on Myra's face froze. "In front of important people?"

"Oh!" Lorain said understanding Myra's fear. "Table etiquette! I'm sure that the manners of your country are quite different but don't worry as long as you remember please and thank-you you should be fine; everyone's used to foreign guests. Oh, and do not look anyone in the eyes; it is considered disrespectful. As a rule no one can look into each other's eyes unless they are lovers or children or they are closely related to the king." Lorain said seriously and ran out of the room.

Lorain led Myra down the maze of corridors to where K'linne was waiting. K'linne was I the same robe as before and he smiled when he saw Myra. "My new apprentice! You look wonderful this evening! Dinner is just about to start, please come with me." Myra linked arms with K'linne and together they entered the large dining room.

K'linne showed Myra to her seat and sat to the left of her by Rowan. Other people who were mingling sat down as well and the food was brought out. Myra was amazed at all the different kinds food; five different kinds of pork, ten different kinds of bread, pudding, poultry, any kind of food that was made was served. She ignored all the idle court chatter and made sure she made no mistakes. Unluckily for a man sitting six seats down, he did not pay so much attention; his goblet spilled. Everyone jumped up from their seats as servants cleaned up the mess.

Rowan laughed, "Peking, thank you for that wonderful distraction. I believe that is the highlight of the evening!" Everyone laughed even Peking who was still blushing from embarrassment. Rowan continued, "I have an announcement to make!" Everyone sat down, "K'linne, our Lord Sorcerer has received a new apprentice, Myra please stand up." Myra shyly stood up as everyone clapped for the new apprentice. "Thank you, you may sit down!" Rowan said before fainting.

Everyone in the room rushed over to Rowan. K'linne frowned and whistled loudly to get everyone's attention "Make room! He needs breathing room! I'm taking him to his chambers, Ornella, Myra come here!" All the sudden they were in Rowan's chamber. K'linne laid Rowan on the bed and sighed, "What have you done this time, Rowan? Ornella, get me some hot water and Myra come here." Myra slowly walked forward and stared at Rowan's unconscious body. "Lay your hand on his chest" K'linne said wearily. "I will direct your magic to revive him and do not be worried if you become tired." K'linne spoke in an unusual language that was hauntingly familiar to Myra. Myra waited for weariness to hit her but nothing changed except Rowan opened his eyes.

"What happened?" Rowan said dazedly. "Where am I? Oh, I'm in my room, how did I get here?" K'linne shook his head and tiredly felt Rowan's head for a fever. Sheepishly Rowan smiled, "I'm fine, I just had a little too much wine." K'linne looked at Rowan expecting him to say more. Rowan stayed silent.

"How much wine is too much?" K'linne asked angrily. Rowan laughed but otherwise was silent. K'linne motioned for one of Rowan's menservants to answer his question, "How much wine did he drink?" Rowan laughed again as his servant opened his mouth to speak.

"He had two kegs of it, sir. I wasn't supposed to see but as you know, I'm to watch out for him." The servant said eyes downcast.

"You let him drink two kegs of wine!" K'linne said screeching. Rowan laughed again and smiled as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"I wasn't supposed to be in there but after I cleaned up, I noticed two of the kegs were empty." His manservant said quickly.

"Where was he that he drank all of that wine?" K'linne asked as the servant shook.

"I was with Peking, K'linne." Rowan said quietly. K'linne's mouth dropped open, "Peking and I were celebrating and we got a little carried away. I only drank one keg; Peking drank the other one. Don't punish him for it!

K'linne shook his head, "Why were you celebrating?"

"Wedding"

"Wedding?"

"Yes"

"Whose?"

"Peking's"

"Peking is getting married?" K'linne asked. Rowan giggled and nodded his head. "To whom?" Rowan paused and thought about it. "You don't know do you?" K'linne asked.

"I forget" Rowan said, laughing once more. "Leave me, until I am sober, I can not think!"

K'linne and Myra left the room, running into Ornella on the way out. "Drunk" K'linne said as Ornella rushed into the room to reprimand her brother.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

A breeze playfully tossed Myra's hair trying to get her awake. Myra just rolled over on to the other side. The breeze tried harder to wake her but to no avail; she was in a deep sleep. It left the room and brought back other breezes to help. Together the breezes pulled her comforter off of her and shook her awake. Her eyes opened abruptly and she smiled as the breezes played in her hair. She yawned, and jumped not realizing where she was. Getting a hold of her self she calmed down and smiled contentedly; she wasn't at the home anymore.

The door opened with a squeak and a plump, pleasant looking lady came in. "Oh, there you are duck. My name's Poppy and I'm here with your breakfast. I hope you like chicken eggs and toast with jam; we weren't sure what you liked. Either way I can get you something else if you don't." she said it with something similar to a British accent. She clucked in dismay when she saw the mess the breezes had made of Myra's hair. "You'll have a hard time trying to get out that rat's nest, duck." Myra chuckled at the way Poppy reminded her of a hen. "I'll get the trolley but I'll be back in a jiff."

Poppy left the room and came back with a trolley laden with food that made Myra's mouth water by just looking at them. "Everything looks wonderful! It's much better than the stuff they fed me back home!" Myra said with such enthusiasm it made Poppy tear up.

"It's good to hear a gel say that; it darn near breaks an old woman's heart. You see here, duck, most gels don't eat enough to put meat on them bones. They need to be fattened up so as to grow up big and strong like me!" Poppy said as she wheeled the trolley closer to the bed. Myra almost laughed when she thought of anyone wanting to be as "big and strong" as Poppy. Poppy was humongous and probably ate the food that the rest of the "gels" didn't eat. Poppy continued talking about how little people were eating and how bad it was for their health. She continued to talk while Myra ate heartily as if she hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Poppy, what are you doing here?" Lorain's voice rang from the doorway. Lorain looked furious and stomped in the room with a huff. She didn't wait for an answer but continued to speak, "I am assigned to her, not you and aren't you supposed to be serving Lady Mandrake right now?" Poppy whimpered under Lorain's angry glare. "No, of course! You wanted to be the busybody you are and find out who exactly is the Lord Sorcerer's new apprentice! Go tell your little band of gossipers that her name is Myra and Lorain is her lady-in-waiting; so they had better run behind their ladies' skirts, Myra's mine!" Poppy snootily walked out of the room with Lorain's angry glare fixed on her.

"Umm… What was that about?" Myra asked as she stared at the obese figure of Poppy leaving. Lorain said nothing but walked over to the door and slammed it shut. "Poppy didn't seem to bad… she seemed nice to me…" Myra said stumbling over what to say.

"Nice? What is nice?! She was trying to get juicy details on your life! She would twist them around and use them against you! I was assigned to you because I do not gossip! I find gossiping repulsive! I stick to facts not what new story Poppy has managed to come up with! Poppy is a troublemaker!" Lorain said angrily making Myra shrink into her pillows. "I'm sorry" Lorain said in a lighter tone, "I just am tired of that woman and all the trouble she causes."

"I understand about gossip; it happened all the time at the school. Most of the time it was about me." Myra said agreeing as Lorain helped her get ready.

Lorain looked at the left over eggs on Myra's plate. "Those are chicken eggs aren't they." Myra nodded her head, "Poppy's going to think you were just some random person K'linne found! She gave you some of the worst food in the house and even a commoner knows what is considered guest food and prisoner food. She'll probably tell the court sorcerers that K'linne's off his rocker and is going to run away with the poorest of poor who can't even tell the difference between food. This is not good. Curse Poppy and her gossip! I hate gossip, it just causes problems." She also added after Myra's questioning look, "Chicken eggs are for paupers who can't afford swan eggs or even goose eggs for that matter. What else did you do?"

Myra quickly recounted her experience with Poppy. "Ah, you might as well told her about the girl's home!" Lorain exclaimed angrily.

"Wait, how do _you_ know that I lived in a girl's home?" Myra asked accusingly and puzzlingly.

Lorain snorted, "I'm K'linne's niece and I'm supposed to be helping you adjust to the change; he filled me in on everything. Besides, I have some background on magic (even though I can't use it) and I don't gossip. Need any more reasons?" Myra shook her head as Lorain silently finished helping her get ready.

"You're beginning your studies with K'linne this morning in the Library then you are his to command. I will take you from the library before dinner, so you can change before eating." Lorain said as Myra and her made their way down the corridors past all of the servants. Finally, they made it to the library.

K'linne greeted them with a smile and they curtsied respectfully for him. "Such manners, you honor me Niece and Apprentice. Lorain thank you, and you are excused. Myra we shall begin you lessons in my study." K'linne opened the door with a smile and they entered a humongous library stacked with books and scrolls.

"Wait" Myra said confusedly, "This is the library not your study… right?" K'linne grinned playfully and laughed.

"You are quite right my dear! Normally, I would just pop into there but I cannot today because of you. You must understand that I have a magical barrier that only allows those I have worked into the spell to enter. For example, if an enemy sorcerer wanted to enter my study he could not because of my spell. To work you into my spell you must be present." K'linne said as pulled a book off of a shelf making the bookcase move to the side. A tunnel that led to a door was behind it. They walked down the tunnel as the bookcase slammed shut behind them.

"So how, am I worked into the spell?" Myra asked worriedly.

"All beings have magic in them, even those who are not sorcerers. I must bind a thread of your magic into the spell. For sorcerers it is easy; it is easy to find and therefore I can make the spell let that certain kind of magic come in. For those who are not sorcerers it is harder; it is hard to find. I take a drop of their blood and combined with their blood they can enter." K'linne smiled as they reached the door. "Put your palm out and up." Myra did so and what looked like a golden thread came from her palm and rose into the door. Meanwhile K'linne was chanting and sweat beaded his brow.

"Thank you Myra, but I hoped you aren't too drained of magic that you can't continue." K'linne said with a sigh as he opened the door to his study. Myra almost burst out laughing; she felt energetic and ready for action.

"I'm perfectly fine, but I'm just excited to start!" Myra said smiling. K'linne gave her a strange look and bowed playfully as she stepped in. "Oh my goodness!" Myra said looking at the study. The study had tables of beakers full of strange concoctions and a humongous desk lay in the center piled high with books and scrolls. The walls were lined with large volumes of books on magic, history, etc. Papers lay everywhere and scrolls lay in piles all over the floor.

"I'm sorry it's a mess but I'm not used to anyone being down here." K'linne said as if just realizing the piles were there. Myra pursed her lips thinking about her old room and how everything was kept in order and sighed. "Normally, apprentices would do menial tasks that had to do with cleaning and such for their first year without even thinking of doing magic." K'linne said making Myra glare at him angrily. K'linne quickly added, "but the battle is getting intense so we'll need to find the Folk soon."

"When does that mean I'll start magic?" Myra asked angrily. She hadn't come here to be a maid. She had come here to learn to use her magic.

K'linne laughed, "We'll begin today!" Myra half-heartedly laughed as well but silently wished that K'linne would be more serious. "Sit down." K'linne said trying to put his thoughts together. He quickly made a chair and desk appear. Myra sat down while he used his magic to put everything in there proper places. "Parchment, of course!" K'linne said laughing as a stack of parchment zoomed onto Myra's desk. "Quills and ink!" K'linne said smiling as they flew onto her desk.

"Alright, now try to right without touching the parchment or quill." K'linne said laughing. Myra could feel that he knew that she couldn't do it. Myra angrily resented him for that so using that anger she let impulse take control. Normally impulse is a bad thing in cases like these but it was not so, this time. Myra's eyes opened wide and she felt no she knew what she had to do. From an unknown source the words came and they came fast.

"Scribo Myra" Myra said with a trance like voice. The pen quivered then was lifted off the desk. It dipped itself into the inkwell then unshakingly and neatly wrote Myra's name on the parchment. Myra felt like she had done it herself physically but somehow she had done it with her mind.

"Amazing! How did you… even the most famous sorcerer Merlin didn't find that out until after concentrating for an hour!"

"I did okay?" Myra asked incredulous.

"You did wonderful, it only took you… about five seconds to figure it out!" K'linne said laughing.

"Now, since you obviously know how to use magic I just need to doctor you up on the words you use." K'linne went on a long speech about learning a different language and how hard it was. To Myra's surprise she could already speak the magic language fluently. "This is just amazing!" K'linne said for the tenth time, "You probably know more words even me!" K'linne said astonished. Myra secretly grinned; it was as if she had a dictionary in her head. "Now onto magic history!"

Myra once again knew it all and after two hours of continuous quizzing and K'linne's eyes nearly popping out of their sockets they were done. "Myra you are a prodigy; you're even more a prodigy than Merlin was, I can't even imagine what he would say to you if he were still alive!" Myra chuckled imagining an old man who looked like K'linne but with a gray beard instead of a snow white one exclaiming "amazing" over and over again. "Have you ever done magic or something unusual happen while you were in that dry world?" K'linne asked taking notes.

"No, nothing." Myra answered.

"Strange, I would think that some of your magic when you were little would have manifested in some way." K'linne said thoughtfully.

"My eyes obviously are a product of my magic." Myra said, "and the breezes wake me up in the morning" Myra said laughing. "and sometimes I think they're talking to me."

"They can." K'linne said quietly. "They talk in the language of magic but only magic users can here it; no-magic users find it unintelligible noises."

"Most wizards specialize in one thing; it looks like yours is the winds. Legend has it that Merlin specialized in the winds. You are more than ready to find the Folk!" K'linne said excitedly.

Myra gulped, "how?" she asked shaking.

"You scry them!" K'linne said laughing as a mirror appeared in his hand. "Here!" he said handing it to her.

"Okay" Myra said as she peered into the glass. _Show me_ she thought as she peered into the glass. The glass became foggy and Myra felt as if she was flying to who knows where.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Myra was sitting on long springy grass beside a pond. Her tree was beside it and a boy around her age or older was sitting on a branch with ebony colored hair covering his eyes. "What do you think you're doing up there?" Myra asked angrily. The boy jumped at her sudden outburst.

"What do you think you're doing in the garden in general?" he asked. His voice was hauntingly familiar and was rich and soft like chocolate.

"You're in my tree!" she said but instantly wished she hadn't said it because she realized it wasn't her tree.

"Your tree? This tree has been in the garden forever and I always sit in it." He said angrily as he jumped down. Myra could almost see him break his leg from jumping down from so high but almost catlike he landed on both feet uninjured. "Who are you?" he asked angrily.

"Who are you?" Myra asked in the same tone. The boy angrily walked over to her until he was about a hairs-breath away. He moved his ebony hair from his eyes and stared into Myra's blinking yellow gaze. Myra waited for the visions to come but none came instead she stared at his eyes; they were a bright cherry red. "What happened to your eyes?" she asked thinking about how much he must have been made fun of for them.

The boy snorted, "I was just about to ask you the same question, Myra."

"How do you know my name?" Myra asked growing pale.

"So it is you?" he said surveying her, "You've changed a lot since our last encounter.

"Who are you?"

The boy leaned over by her ear and whispered, "Corin". The name sent shivers up Myra's spine.

"So, you remember me?" he said smirking. Myra nodded her head as she thought about all the good times she had had. Myra remembered the first day she had met him, ten years before, on her fourth birthday.

_Myra was living at the Girl's home and nothing was different than it's future state. Everyone hated her and she felt pitiful and alone. Whenever she asked someone to play they would run away trying not to look her in the eyes. Myra was tired and cranky as any four year old would be and ran blindly into the woods with tears staining her cheeks. Before she knew it she was in the middle of the forest beside a humongous tree. Myra was so tired she lied down by the roots and fell asleep. _

_Next thing she knew a boy was lying beside her crying. Myra dried her tears and tapped him on the shoulder. "What's wrong?" she asked. He jumped up and quickly dried his tears._

_"Nothing" he said as a big fat tear ran down his cheek. "who are you?"_

_"My name's Myra" she said surprised he hadn't run away. "What's yours?"_

_"Corin" he said thinking the exact same thing. "Why aren't you scared of me?" _

_Myra looked him up and down, "Why would I be?"_

_"My eyes" Corin answered. Myra stared into his eyes, which were a bright cherry red._

_"They're pretty but why would I be? Why aren't you scared of mine?"_

_"They look like the sun! Why would I be scared of the sun?" Corin asked smiling, "Do you want to play?" _

_"Yeah! Today's my birthday by the way!"_

_"Happy Birthday, then, Myra!"_

_"How old are you?"_

_"Five"_

_"I'm four"_

_"Tag your it!"_

_"Wait for me! No fair!"_

_Hours flew by and they laughed and enjoyed life as much as children their age could. Eventually, the sun began to set and Corin said, "It's getting late, when will I see you again? This has been the best day of my life!"_

_Myra thought for a moment then said, "Well, I don't even know how I got here! I woke up and was in this place!"_

_Corin shut his eyes tightly after a few moments he opened his eyes, "I've got it! All we need to do is fall asleep again!"_

_"Wow, you're smart. How come your so smart?" Myra said jealously._

_"Books"_

_"You can read?"_

_"Yep"_

_"But you're only five, right?" Myra said surprised, "I didn't think even five year olds could be that smart. I can't wait to be five!"_

_Corin's face darkened, "I'm a quick learner" he said as he laid down at the roots of the tree. Myra knew she had said something wrong and hoped he would forgive her. She laid down nearby and also took a nap._

_When Myra had woken up no time had passed and Myra wondered if she would ever see her friend, Corin, again. That afternoon she went to the library and taught herself to read before she was called for dinner._

_After that lonely dinner Myra went to bed and as it would be every night when she fell asleep she would find Corin waiting for her._

_"Hi Myra!" Corin said from a high branch in The Tree. He was eating something and smacking loudly. "Come on up!" Myra hesitantly climbed up the tree wondering why all the sudden he had chosen to climb up it. The Tree had been what had brought them together and Myra felt it was kind of rude to climb up it. "Here" Corin said handing her a cloth sack filled with something._

_"What is it and what are you eating?" Myra asked as Corin rudely chewed whatever it was. "What's the occasion anyways?"_

_Corin laughed almost choking and falling off the branch at the same time. "That's three questions, I will answer two of those will great delight! I am eating raz-raz, my favorite desert ever! I snuck some from the kitchens for this joyous occasion! What is the occasion? Why it's our second anniversary!"_

_Myra stared at him, "You mean since we've met? How on earth did you keep track?"_

_Corin chuckled, "This old noggin works pretty well for an old fella like me!"_

_"Oh your not old! You're only seven!"_

_"Ah and you are only six!" Myra ignored his last comment and thought about all the fun they had had in the past two years in Valhalla or the dream world that they were now in. They had come up with the name after Myra had read about Norse Legends. Valhalla was the Viking heaven and Valhalla definitely fit the beautiful place. _

_"Earth to Myra!" Corin said with a laugh, "aren't you going to open it?" Myra quickly opened it to reveal a chain made out of what looked like real gold. Myra's hand flew to where her mother's necklace was hanging on a piece of yarn._

_"Corin… how did you… it's beautiful!" Myra said as a tear ran down her face. She gave him a hug that made him blush uncontrollably. Myra untied her "necklace" and removed the pale milky white stone and placed it on the chain. "Thank you, but I don't even have anything to give you!" _

_Corin grinned, "Being my best friend is enough! Besides, you haven't even tried raz-raz!"_

_They spent the rest of the time laughing and eating raz-raz until it was time to go. _

_Their last day was the clearest thing in Myra's mind and she still dreaded that ending._

_When Myra had awoken, she had been surprised that Corin did not call her name or tap her on the shoulder. Myra instantly looked up into the tree and knew he was in one of his "moods". His day had gone wrong and he was still grieving over it. People treated him horribly and according to him it made her life look like a "walk in the park." The moods came at odd times and had become more frequent but after Myra's persistent "cheer-up drops" as they called her constant nagging and silly gestures she made while she tried to cheer him up._

_Myra climbed nimbly up The Tree and sat beside him, "what's the matter?" She asked sticking her bottom lip out and giving him puppy dog eyes. He didn't even give her a glance. He just continued to stare off into space and scowl. "That bad huh?" Myra had never seen him this bad, "Want to tell me about it?" _

_Corin finally looked at her with a frown fixed on his face and his eyes dark red. Myra stared at the eyes that had always fascinated her. Whenever he was in a good mood, they were a bright cherry red but when he was in a bad mood they were a dark foreboding red. Other than the color what fascinated he the most was the fact that she never made his worst moments dance in front of her eyes and him screaming and twitching on the floor. It was a relief to actually look someone in the eyes. _

_Myra smiled hesitantly but Corin's grim outlook did not change. She laid her hand on his shoulder but he just shrugged it off. "What is wrong?" Myra asked more firmly this time._

_Corin jumped down from the two story high branch agilely as Myra stared at her unusual friend. Corin landed on both feet as if nothing had happened and brushed off his clothes. He casually walked towards the clear blue stream and sat down. Myra quickly climbed down and sat beside him. They sat there quietly watching as a butterfly nearby came out of it's chrysalis. _

_"Myra, I'm a…" Corin paused searching for the right words, "this is the last time we will see each other, ever again." Myra bit her lip and stared into the depths of the stream. "I… it has… oh… it's hard to explain… but it would be better if you forgot all about me…"_

_Myra whipped her head around to stare at him, "Forget you? She gave half-hearted laugh, "How could I? You're my best and only friend. I would and will die without you!" _

_Corin grabbed her face until they were only an inch apart, "Bitter sweet endings" Corin said as his face and all of Valhalla slowly faded into nothingness, ending Myra's happiness._

Myra had always wondered if it really had happened and buried those memories deep inside of her and filled the whole with superficial things but it never had really been filled. She was still that eight-year-old girl wanting a friend and he was stolen away from her. Now he was here, in front of her, once again.

"You're quieter than I remember." Corin said as they sat beside a clear blue lake where the stream had been in Valhalla.

"Maybe, I like to think about what I'm going to say before I say it." Myra said grinning making Corin laugh.

His laugh was chillingly beautiful. It reminded her of the music she had heard before K'linne and the "nobles" had appeared. "Is this Valhalla? It looks so similar except the stream was where this lake is now and there used to be a forest where the garden is."

Corin stopped laughing, "No, Valhalla never really existed" Myra looked down slightly embarrassed. "You didn't know, after all it was real to us and that's what really matters."

Myra smiled hesitantly, "How exactly did I get here and where is here?"

"Well considering this is a real place" Corin made a funny face, "you must have been transported here. The only problem is that, well, no one is supposed to be able to transport here." Corin said with a far away look in his eyes.

"Will I be in trouble" Myra asked quickly. Corin said nothing making Myra panic, "Oh no, I knew I shouldn't have gone with K'linne and those two brats, all my visions ever bring is trouble!" Suddenly K'linne laid his hand on her shoulder reassuringly making Myra relax all at once.

"What is this about K'linne?" Corin asked frowning.

"K'linne, Ornella and Rowan came to the home asking for my help and I agreed" Myra said.

"Home?"

"Yeah, it's a place for orphan, girls to be exact, and we live there. Didn't I tell you?" Myra said thoughtfully.

"We never really talked much at ourselves." Corin said emotionlessly.

"Well, anyways, they appeared and I went with them." Myra decided not to add the side trips and continued, "K'linne told me that I can be his apprentice and today I began my training. The funny thing is that I mastered all I needed to know all this morning. K'linne told me to scry the Fair Folk and I ended up here" Myra said hoping she hadn't bored Corin to death.

To her surprise he was deep in thought, "I can help you find them-"

"But how do you know where they are?" Myra asked surprised. "K'linne says I was the only one that could find them"

"Well…" Corin pursed his lips, "I have a lot of time on my hands so I can read a lot of old manuscripts. I'll do it if you promise to do one thing for me"

"Anything"

"Come back and see me soon"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

K'linne stood over the motionless body of Myra. Her eyes were shut and she held the mirror with both hands pulled close to her chest making her look like a fairy tale princess. K'linne had been standing there for no more then a minute when Myra came to.

Myra opened her eyes slowly; trying to focus on her surroundings. K'linne frowned worriedly as Myra exhaled a deep sigh.

"Did you find them?" K'linne asked anxiously.

"More or less" Myra said smiling as she stood up slowly. K'linne licked his lips as he awaited the valuable information. Myra brushed off her dress and ignored K'linne's hungry gaze.

"Well?" K'linne asked. K'linne was tired of the war and didn't like leaving the fate of the world on an inexperienced girl; even if she was really powerful.

Myra smiled at his anxiousness and laughed, "I'll draw you a map!"

K'linne was surprised at Myra's new confidence and felt it was a change for the better; positive outlooks always were better.

After Myra had drawn the map K'linne felt that they were ready, "I am confident that you are ready, my dear, and we can begin our search tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow, but I've only been here for about a day and a half!" Myra said angrily.

"Well it's good to get a head start on life!" K'linne said laughing at his wittiness.

Myra rolled her eyes but played along, "But it is better to be wary than to be caught unaware"

K'linne raised an eyebrow, "Ah but who says we aren't wary?"

Myra shrugged theatrically then looked around quickly as if searching for the culprit making K'linne chuckle.

"What a wonderful apprentice I have!"

"So… we're not leaving tomorrow?"

"Oh, we're leaving tomorrow whether you like it or not!"

"Oh"

Nothing exciting happened the rest of the day, except Lorain angrily preparing for their journey. "Who does he think he is? Doesn't he think? Tomorrow, sure, like we'll have everything ready by then!" Lorain muttered as she scurried everywhere.

"Lorain" Myra asked that night, "What kind of transportation will we use?"

"Horses of course!"

"Oh, boy…"

"You can't ride can you?"

"No not one bit"

"Don't worry you get the sweetest mare there ever was; Marigold."

"I'll take your word for it"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The breezes whispered softly into Myra's ears. She rolled over mumbling but they continued to bug her. After numerous times this ensued Myra gave up and opened her eyes. "Oh no…" Myra said out loud remembering their plan for today.

"What's the matter?" came Lorain's voice from the bathroom. Lorain's red hair was a mess and her dress was stained.

"Nothing" Myra said quickly, "what happened to you?" She asked taking in her grimy appearance.

"Oh, this?" As if looking at it for the first time, "I was getting the horses ready for our journey, I'll be coming with you." Seeing Myra's astonished look she added, "Lady-in-waitings go wherever their lady goes, besides I love journeys!"

"Why were you getting the horses ready and not someone else?"

Lorain rolled her eyes, "I'm probably the best horseperson in the whole kingdom! My uncle got me out of the farm because he knew the court needed someone who wouldn't gossip. Besides I'm his favorite niece." Lorain smiled, "I'm his only niece."

"Oh" Myra said laughing, as Lorain made a funny face.

Lorain smiled, "Oh and I got you some practical riding clothes; their a page friend's of mine" Lorain held up the mauve tunic and black leggings. "The tunics going to be a little big but I brought a belt and some riding boots."

Myra smiled, "Perfect!"

Myra and Lorain stood beside the stables waiting for the rest of the company to join them. Every few minutes, Lorain would go into the stables to check on the five horses: Speck, Farynne, Rami, Annix, and Marigold.

With a loud crack K'linne appeared out of nowhere in the stable spooking the horses. "Uncle! Can't you get it in your head that when you do that it scares the horses?" Lorain said trying to calm down them, K'linne laughed but it quickly faded into a cough when Lorain glared at him.

"He has such a warped sense of humor" Lorain said to Myra as they left the castle's gates. K'linne rode in the lead with the white mare Annix followed by Myra and Lorain. Lorain rode the feisty stallion Farynne that only could be calmed down by her alone and Myra rode the calm, serene Marigold. Calla and Rami were at the rear with supplies.

Most of the ride that day was silent except for the clattering of the hooves. To Myra's surprise she could ride quite well and took it on like a second nature, "I love riding!" she said laughing, as she galloped to the front then back.

"Myra! Stop this nonsense! We must keep our horses' energy from draining we still have a lot of ground to cover!" K'linne said irritably. Myra slowed down to a walk and went back to her old position beside Lorain.

"Don't feel so bad! Whenever I first learned to ride all I did was gallop everywhere. K'linne's crabby 'cause he hates riding." Lorain said comfortingly.

"Why?" Myra said intrigued.

"Well, riding chafes his buttocks."

"You're kidding, right?" Myra said hiding a giggle.

"Nope, but enough of our gossip we're slowing down our progress."

Lorain and Myra hurried to catch up with K'linne.

That night they stopped at Cavern Inn, which was a bright and cheery place with good rooms and service. "What you want?" asked the owner's wife when it was time for dinner.

K'linne gave a smile that could have melted anyone's haggard heart. "We'll have whatever your having, Belinda, my beauty. And I must say that you are looking ravishing today. Is that a new dress and you did something different with your hair!"

"Oh, stop it you snake charmer, you!" Belinda said blushing.

"Ah, it looks like K'linne has stopped by; Belinda's cheeks are tomato red" said a big booming voice from behind the counter. A large man with a gray beard smiled at the company. "Always up to trouble, that K'linne. It doesn't matter what rank he has, he's always up to no good when that smile of his reaches my inn." He gave a large booming laugh and sat down beside them in their booth. "How are you my old friend?"

"Fine, Greg just fine but it has been a while since your ale has reached my lips!" K'linne said smiling.

"Martin, get the man some ale!" Greg said to a scrawny youth. He carried the mug over to the table and gave everyone a weak smile. He was very tall and lanky and looked to be just a year older than Myra. He seemed quite clumsy as he almost tripped over his own feet as he carried the mugs over to the table. His eyes were a bright green that seemed to laugh at them as he gave them the ale. "This scrawny good for nothing is Martin. I found him nearby and gave him a home. Found him about ten years ago, Belinda and I did. He's like a son to me but not exactly, right in his head if you know what I mean. Can't speak at all; think he's possessed by a devil. Luckily, I have five strapping sons but they're away in that war. Figure at least one of them will come back or I'll have to give the Inn to Adie over there." He pointed to a pretty little girl tending to the fireplace. "But it will be a while 'till that happens. So why are you in my inn after all these years?"

K'linne smiled, "Ah, you know me so well, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Always with the favors!"

"You see, my company and are in search of some aid in the war and we believe that there may be some dwarves hiding in those caverns of yours."

"Ale Caverns?" Greg asked paling.

"The very ones"

"And who are these lasses that they would join you on such a journey?"

"My apprentice, Myra"

"A girl?"

"There is more to her than meets the eye"

"Sure"

"And this is Lorain" K'linne said smiling.

"Your niece?"

"Yes"

"I think your company is a mistake" he said staring at Myra, "but I'll lead you to the mouth of the caverns." K'linne smiled and drained his mug then smiled; he missed Greg's homebrew ale.

The moment they had entered the caverns Myra's blood ran cold. Shivers crept up her spine and she had large goose bumps all over her body. The caverns were silent and all she could hear was the padding of their footsteps. The first part of the caverns was filled with barrels of wine and ale that Greg kept there as a storage area. Greg showed them in but he wouldn't go any farther. "Makes your blood run cold it does, and I'm sure there's ghosts and ghouls down here. I wish you the best of luck." Greg left them with torches in their hands and a grim outlook.

"I can't believe all of this is under the inn!" Myra exclaimed as the walked past stalactites and stalagmites. Myra wasn't sure which was which but they were pretty.

"Shhh!" K'linne and Lorain said simultaneously.

"Sorry" Myra said angrily and thoughtfully looked around; she could have sworn she had heard footsteps.

They continued to walk for hours until they reached an underground spring. "This looks like a good place to stop as any." The company sat down and laid down their bags of supplies that they had been carrying.

"Is it day or night?" Lorain asked squinting as if to see if there had been any change.

"Who knows" K'linne said with a yawn, "let's get some sleep but first…" using his magic he made a small camp fire appear, "who wants to take watch first?" Myra agreed to take the first watch because she didn't feel tired and didn't want whatever might be hiding to find her asleep. The funny thing is that she somehow managed to fall asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Myra was in Valhalla again and not the "real" place that was so different yet the same. She was in Valhalla again, for real. She was back where she had first met Corin; she was back!_

_"Hey" Corin said from a high branch in The Tree. He jumped down and gave her a hug. _

_"Hey, I thought you said this place wasn't real?" Myra said squinting at him._

_"It isn't"_

_"Then how come we're here?"_

_"You don't even want to know"_

_"Come on, tell me!"_

_"It's very technical"_

_"I'll deal with it."_

_"Okay, Valhalla is an invention of our minds. When we were little both of us were in pain and somehow our minds reached out to each other. Together our minds formed Valhalla, our two favorite places combined into one. When we fell asleep our souls would search for each other during our unconsciousness and they would become one creating our safe haven, Valhalla."_

_"That wasn't technical!"_

_"I saved you from the boring parts; I'm good at summarizing."_

_"Ah, your good old noggin?" Myra said laughing._

_"Yep, so did you start your journey?"_

_"Yeah, we made it to some inn called the Cavern Inn and were searching for dwarves."_

_"Ah, the children of the earth"_

_"Children of the earth?"_

_"That's what they call themselves."_

_"Oh"_

_"Very loyal to their King, but they tend to be more loyal to dirt."_

_"So how should we convince them?"_

_"Offer them land, the underground part but don't offer them jewels; they're dead to them… or save a life or something." _

_"What do you mean?"_

_"You know, gain their trust-"_

_"Not that!"_

_"You don't have to yell! Deep in the ground the jewels actually grow and the dwarves tend to them like crops. The ones we have are dead and the dwarves find it useless and spiteful to the live ones."_

_"They're like farmers?"_

_"In a way, but below ground not above."_

_"Opposite worlds"_

_"Exactly"_

_"We stopped by an underground lake to rest…"_

_"…And you fell asleep"_

_"Oh my gosh!"_

_"What?"_

_"I was supposed to be on guard!"_

_"You must have been tired"_

_"How do I wake up quick enough?" Myra said anxiously. Corin frowned and gave a large theatric sigh._

_"Do I have to do everything for you?"_

_"Maybe" Myra said playfully. Corin motioned for her to close her eyes and the next thing she knew she was awake. _

Myra hands and feet were tied up and gagged in a strange room. She could see the faint outline of Lorain and K'linne nearby. The room was dark and no lights were visible. In the dark, Myra's eyes glowed their eerie yellow giving off enough light to see the silhouettes of people and things. Myra tried to use her magic to get the gag off but nothing happened. _Great _she thought_ I can't use my magic!_

Myra waited for what seemed like hours until the silhouette of a small man appeared. From what Myra could see he was stout and he was stomping angrily to where they lay. "So, the little maggots have awoken" he said in a low voice. "Ah, looks like this one has the demon eyes. Dangerous that one…" Myra angrily tried to lunge at him but her restraints kept her from doing so. "Me thinks very dangerous, what is Orlo thinking? Maybe they be worth something?" A loud groan resounded from K'linne making him pause. "Poor me, always stuck with dangerous uppers!"

"Grax get away from the prisoners!" a voice yelled from somewhere Myra couldn't see. A shorter stockier figure appeared brandishing an axe, "Nothing but trouble you are!"

"But I finds them! I get reward!"

"The only reward you'll get is your freedom from being in jail!"

"Poor me, mean old Deax, he don't know Grax is smart!"

"Get out of here!" The figure of Grax quickly disappeared leaving Deax standing in front of his captives. "Crazy old hoot!" he muttered. Throughout the entire ordeal Myra had slowly been working on the gag with her teeth and had managed to somehow slip it off her mouth so she could talk.

She worked her jaw until she felt she could talk and she summoned up the courage to talk to her captor. "If you would be so kind, dear sir" Myra said in her sweetest voice, "to tell me why you have captured me and my friends? We were doing no harm; just exploring and all that"

"Just exploring, sure, just exploring! How did you get off that gag? Trouble makers you are, trouble makers with a capital 'T'!" Deax said angrily, "lucky for you, we were just about to go see the king to see about your punishment for trespassing! Or I would have to knock you out!" The moment Deax finished speaking six other large figures appeared.

"Here to take them to the king" a voice said. Deax nodded and the figures grabbed Myra and the rest of the company and dragged them out of the room into other dark shadowy rooms. Eventually, they dragged them down a flight of stone steps that Myra couldn't see but could feel as she was dragged down them. They went threw a large stone door into a badly lit hallway. Myra could now see her captors well enough to see that they were dwarfs as she had expected. They were all short, stocky and hairy. Everyone had a beard and carried some kind of weapon. They were all wearing armor and they had grim looks on their faces. Everything was made of stone and busts of dwarves lined the hallway.

"Who are they?" Myra asked staring at the busts.

"Shut up, upper!" said one of the dwarves dragging Myra. The other one whispered in Myra's ear when no one was looking, "Warriors and kings of the past"

Myra nodded and waited to see where they were taking her. Suddenly, the dwarves stopped and Myra looked up to see a burly dwarf with a peppery beard in front of them. He wore armor as well, but on his helmet there was a large star made out of rubies. Despite the small variation, Myra knew that to the dwarves it was a huge difference; he was the King. "These are the trouble makers?" the dwarf king said in disbelief. "Mere children and a frail old man? Well, our location has been revealed; kill them!"

"Uncle, if I might intrude? As you said they're just children and an old man; maybe we could…" said Deax. The king raised an eyebrow making the dwarf gulp. "Or we feed them to the dragon? After all, it would be better if the dragon ate humans instead of dwarves."

"Nephew, do you mean to undermine my authority?"

"No, sir… it's just that…"

"Do as he says" the king said tiredly motioning for his nephew, Deax, to follow him as he left.

"Sorry" said the kindly dwarf from before, "it looks like you'll be dying a slow and painful death." Myra winced, "Well, if you defeat the dragon, I'm sure the king would let you live… but your so young and a female at that! The rest of them will be knocked out for a couple more hours; so you're on your own!" Myra closed her eyes as the dwarves led her deeper into their tunnels. She only opened them again when they stopped. "This is as far as we go…" the kind dwarf said apologetically. "…the dragon is just below us." He pointed into a pit in the middle of the floor, "He only comes out when he's hungry, so we feed him the troublemakers so he doesn't eat anyone important; we call him Jail cause it's nicer then saying we're going to feed you to a dragon-"

"Just throw them in, Liam!" a dwarf yelled irritably at Liam.

"Good luck" Liam whispered as he untied Myra and the rest of the company and threw them in.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Myra landed with a loud thump on something soft and mushy, which she hoped was moss. _If theirs moss growing there must be water!_ Myra thought quickly trying to find a vantage point. Surprisingly, the pit was lit with torches but they glowed a dark, vulgar green. The floor was covered with bones and weapons of the dead "troublemakers."

Myra picked up a sword and a beat-up shield from the hands of one of the skeletons. Myra knew that her magic still wasn't working and she hoped she'd be good as good with a sword as she was with magic and riding. She scanned the room for signs of the dragon but she saw him nowhere. Myra unbound K'linne and Lorain hoping they would wake up and give her some advise. Myra gulped and hoped the dragon wouldn't find them before they woke up; Myra was going to need a lot of help. Myra sat there waiting her heart beating fast. Eventually, she decided to look for the dragon while her adrenaline was still pumping. She warily walked towards the most carcass-infested area. Careful not to tread on the dead she made her way to the center of the area where a dark, vulgar green colored dragon lay. His chest went up and down as he breathed.

_Where are dragon weak points?_ Myra thought staring at the massive figure_ Armpits, roof of mouth…_ Myra thought hard to all the "fiction" books she had read about dragons,_ and underside area. _Myra smiled at the bare, unprotected underside of the dragon.

"What have we here?" a voice boomed from nowhere, "A tiny live little warrior? A maiden at that! Not even dwarf, this is my lucky day! Probably been five hundred years since I've had a maiden for breakfast!" The voice reminded Myra of a snake hissing. The dragon rolled over to face Myra, "Yellow eyes, how intriguing…" his own green eyes stared into Myra's angry glare. Myra waited for the visions but they didn't come. "Ah well… I'll give you a chance you can live if you can solve a riddle!"

"Dragon's always lie; you'll eat me anyways."

"Not all of us lie but you do have me pinpointed my dear!" his stomach growled. "It's been a while since I've had a good chat but I am starving and seeing you are food… it's time for breakfast…"

The dragon lunged at her but she dodged. "Fast one aren't you?" he hissed. _If only I had my magic_ Myra thought bitterly as the dragon lunged again. Myra swung the sword in the direction of the dragon but missed, "Fast too, eh?"

"Why don't you breathe fire at me?" Myra asked as she dodged his claw.

The dragon laughed a deep rumbling laugh, "Only the important dragons can do that!"

Myra again lunged at him and grazed his underside. Before she knew it he had knocked the sword and shield out of her hands. He pinned her on the ground and stared hungrily down at her. Drool dribbled down his chin as he glared menacingly at her. He was inches away from Myra when suddenly someone yelled a war cry.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" a figure suddenly appeared falling threw the air. The figure landed by Myra's head, he thrust his sword into the dragon's open mouth upward making the dragon recoil from his almost kill. The figure lunged at the dragon and stabbed him in the chest exactly where the heart should be. The dragon fell backwards with a screech and was silent.

The figure turned around so Myra could see her savior's face. To her surprise it was Martin, Greg's "son." Martin gave a weak smile and doubled over retching his last meal on to the ground.

"You just killed a dragon, I thought you were just a useless boy!" Myra said amazed at the lanky boy in front of her. He gave her another weak smile and motioned for her to follow him. Myra shrugged and followed him to where K'linne and Lorain lay. He pointed at them and made the motion for asleep. "No they're just unconscious."

He smiled and from his belt he pulled out a cloth bag. He stuck his hand in the bag and sprinkled some of whatever it was on to K'linne and Lorain. They opened their eyes to see Martin's grimy, smiling face.

Lorain yawned, "Where are we?" she said glancing at the skeletons nervously. Myra explained what had happened quickly while they listened intently.

"You fell asleep." K'linne said shaking his head.

"Yes, but I did find the dwarves and they will be in our debt for slaying the dragon."

"Martin's debt but that does not stray to the fact that you fell asleep!"

Lorain interrupted them before their discussion got anymore intense, "How do we get out of here?"

Martin smiled and pulled a grappling hook from his backpack, he threw it and it landed at its destination at the top. He smiled and motioned for them go up. Myra gave him a smile and climbed up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

When Myra reached the top she was astonished at the sight that beheld her. All six of the dwarves that had brought them to "jail" were unconscious. Myra stared dumbfounded at the curiosity of it all. Who had knocked them all unconscious? Could Martin have done it? Was there more to him that met the eye? Myra pondered these thoughts and decided that there was definitely more to Martin then met the eye.

Eventually, everyone had climbed up looking worse very fatigued and slightly forlorn, that is except for Martin. Martin had a big smile on his face and was happily putting his grappling hook back in his backpack. Martin was very tall and lanky. He had very long arms and legs and seemed clumsy and uncoordinated. Myra wouldn't have questioned it if she hadn't seen him fight the dragon. Martin's hair was straw colored and he was an unearthly pale with his blue vanes standing out and oddly had freckles all over his face. His clothes were nothing but rags and he carried a backpack and on his belt were bags of various items. He smiled once again and led them out the door.

"Ah, the trouble makers have killed Jail!" came a voice who Myra instantly knew was Grax. A short dwarf walked stoutly over to them and bowed. "My apologies for the mishap, I hope you heroes will be kind to a poor fellow like me!" Myra glanced at K'linne only to see Martin at the corner of her eye ram into the dwarf at full speed knocking him down. The dwarf yelped, as Martin looked him straight in the eye, "No not you!" Martin grinned then he reached his hand into Grax's mouth and pulled out a shiny wet rock. Myra almost gagged and it was easy to see K'linne and Lorain were having similar reactions.

Martin abruptly stood up, spitting in disgust and looked down at the dwarf with disdain, "Nasty little dwarf…" He turned around to look at the astonished out onlookers.

"Umm… you can talk?" Myra said surprised.

"Yes, no thanks to that nasty over there…" Martin said angrily. "When I was little that nasty little dwarf stole me away to the caverns. He was an old hermit that was mute and had heard of an old spell that would cure him of his muteness. The main ingredient he needed was a little boy. He stole my voice and put it in this rock" Martin held up the slimy stone. "I could never speak except meaningless sound.."

K'linne laughed making everyone stare, "You didn't need to do that, you could have asked me to reverse it! It's a simple spell and I would have gladly done it for you!"

"I couldn't talk, let alone ask you!" Martin said vehemently. He stormed off down the dwarf hallway. Myra shrugged and they followed Martin down the hall. He led them to a big door and gave them a half-hearted smile, "The problem with Grax's plan was that I'm not one hundred percent human. I should have been able to counteract the spell once I was old enough but I'm on my own and no one could teach me it"

"What are you other then human?" Lorain asked suddenly intrigued.

"I'm part elf," Martin said with a sigh.

"I thought elves had-" Myra said surprised.

"-Pointed ears?" Martin said with another sigh.

"Well, yeah!" Myra exclaimed.

"Well, considering I'm only a baby in elf years I haven't developed them yet." Martin said touching his ears with another large sigh, "you had better not tell the dwarf king about me killing the dragon. Elves are sworn enemies of dwarves."

"Why?"

"They love dirt we love plants, what else is there to say?"

"Total opposites?" Myra said thinking of her conversation with Corin.

"Yeah, they probably don't know I'm part elf but better not take your chances. They'll take any excuse to kill an elf even a half-elf." Martin said with another sigh. "Anyways, Grax felt sorry for me and took care of me until I was about five and pretended I was a dwarf but when I was about his height he left me at the mouth of the caverns where Greg found me; hence his ghoul theory. I hate it down here but eventually he told me about how he got a voice and ever since then I've been plotting on how to get MY voice back. It only just worked because you provided a distraction for Grax. "Now to make sure it will never happen again!" He laughed as he threw it on the ground and stomped all over it. Then he emptied one of the bags from his waist onto it, laughing. "Only copper specks but it does the trick! Now, after we get out of here I can enjoy the fresh air! The sweet fresh air and climb a tree!" Martin gave a big smile as he opened the door, "Welcome to pride of all dwarves, Ruby City!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The city was magnificent; everything was made of Rubies. The city was more like modern cities in Myra's world and the Ruby buildings were as tall as skyscrapers. Each building was made of one gigantic ruby and everything was very precise and exact. The whole city was in red; even the cloaks the dwarves wore were red.

"Put these on" Martin said handing them red cloaks from his backpack. "I knew they would come in handy some day, oh, and act small and put the hoods up" The group did as he said and they went in unnoticed by the common dwarf folk. "There are many other dwarf cities like Diamond Suburbia, Emerald Haven, Topaz Town, and Amber Asphalt but they had to be abandoned when the dwarves went into hiding. Well, that is at least what Grax said." Martin gave another smile.

"Are most elves this happy?" Myra whispered in K'linne's direction. K'linne gave a shrug.

"To answer your question elves are very happy and almost always joke, laugh and play. To them I would seem like a dark storm cloud and you would be a whole herd of them. Elves are never serious and take life to it's fullest. Dwarves on the other hand are very serious and hate all the elves' playful gander." Martin gave another sigh and continued to lead them around the city. "And here is the Dwarf Palace!" Martin said smiling.

The palace was gorgeous and was made of stones other then rubies. There were diamonds, topaz, emeralds, and every stone imaginable. Two guards were sitting in front of it with very serious faces. "What ya want?" the guard on the left asked. Martin pulled off the hood to reveal his face and the others did likewise.

"You're those troublemakers that they fed to Jail! How did you get out?" The dwarf asked.

"Killed him" Myra said as serious as she could manage.

"YOU WHAT?" The dwarf said with his eyes as big as saucers, "YOU KILLED JAIL? I MUST GO TELL THE KING!" the dwarf exclaimed as he ran into the palace.

The other dwarf remained calm and placid, "Killed him, eh? How could you kill him, our best warriors tried to kill him and they all got fried."

"Actually, the dragon couldn't breath fire" Myra said.

"I meant figuratively" the dwarf said calmly but in the way he said it you could tell he was irritated.

"Oh" Myra said as the dwarf who had ran to tell the king came back out.

"Come with me" he said as he motioned for them to follow. They followed him into the palace that was even prettier than the city. They went past other busts (go figure) and went threw a large diamond door. "King Orlo, King of the Dwarves!" the guard said presenting the dwarf king.

"You killed Jail?" he said in a calm disbelief. Myra nodded, "A mere girl did what hundreds of dwarfs could not do? Ah, your eyes they reveal you are not what you seem. You have power beyond your years, yes, not that much of an embarrassment." The King said talking to himself.

"Ah, you made it out alive!" Deax said as he entered from a far door off to the right. "I hoped you would, your eyes are little pieces of gold. As if it was a prophecy… little pieces of gold would vanquish the dragon."

"Deax… you are stepping out of line coming here!" the King barked at Deax. "Especially when you spout poetic nonsense!"

"And how am I supposed to learn, Uncle? How will I be King if I don't watch what a King does?" Deax said seriously. King Orlo was at loss for words.

"Since you vanquished Jail I'm sure your just waiting for a reward" the king said after a bit.

"Actually" K'linne said, "We came down here in search of your help" Orlo frowned "You see, the Dragon King-"

"Dragon King? Dragon King?" The dwarf angrily said, "I know why you're here, to ask for help to defeat him, aren't you? We've had enough trouble with one dragon, we are not going to let a whole pack of them know where we are!" He stood as tall as he could and attempted to look K'linne in the eye, "We will not help you, _numquam, _never, as long as I am king!" The dwarf was out of breath and paused, "I am thankful for your bravery in defeating the dragon but I can not risk anymore lives. To show you our gratitude we will spare your lives, now be off with you! I have more important matters to attend to!" Orlo exclaimed angrily. He glanced at Deax and he grinned wickedly. "Oh, and Deax…"

Deax gulped, "Yes?"

"You will join them on their quest."

"But…"

"No, buts Deax you must do as I say. Besides it may make you grow up."

"But…" Deax exclaimed but Orlo just glared at him. "Fine, uppers, follow me."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Deax led them calmly enough down the tunnels but very agitatedly. His shoulders were tensed and if they so much as kicked a rock he would stop suddenly and hiss through his teeth. "Are all dwarfs hot-heads?" Myra whispered to Martin.

"Yeah, they take everything seriously." Martin said. All of the sudden he started to laugh wildly. Deax whirled around and stared at Martin angrily. "Naughty dwarf your not supposed to look people in the eyes!" Martin gasped through his laughter. Deax clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

"Shut up!" He squealed. "You don't know! How could you know?" He began to cry, which is a very unmanly thing to do.

Martin stopped laughing, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…"

Deax wiped away a tear with his short stubby fingers. "I wasn't talking about the eye thing!" he angrily squealed.

"See what I mean… their hotheads" Martin whispered. Lorain smacked him in the back of the head.

"Shut up!" she hissed, "What were you talking about then?" She asked Deax.

"You see, Uncle Orlo is the only family I have. My whole family was wiped out by the sickness. It killed everyone in my family as well as killed half the population. I moved in with my uncle and he has taken care of me since then. I remind him of my mother and I'm weak; he thinks I'm just a big baby. That's why I was guarding you guys, Uncle decided to "tough" me up a bit with ranger duty. I had to go into the unknown caverns and look for trespassers and dangers."

"Grax told me about the plague but… I never knew that it was that bad" Martin exclaimed after Deax was finished.

"Wait… how do you-" Deax exclaimed. He counted the number of people and stared at Martin. "You weren't with them when I got them from Grax. How do you know Grax?"

"All in good time, Deax. All in good time." Martin chuckled as he patted his shoulder, "Now how about we get out of here?" Martin said as he motioned for everyone to follow him.

"How do you know where to go? Is anyone else confused?" Deax groaned, "Your going the wrong way!" He shook his axe menacingly, "If you get us lost I'll kill you!"

"Pfft, I could never get lost! I know this place like I know the back of my hand!" Martin snorted.

"It's official I am going to kill you; you are going the wrong way!" Deax exclaimed as Martin slid though a small crack in a cavern wall motioning everyone to follow him.

"I am not! I go through these shortcuts blindfolded!" Martin laughed, "Not that I could see anything anyways!" The company followed him nervously though the crack with Deax at the back grumbling the entire time.

"Are we almost there?" K'linne said with a huff. "Some of us are old and tired!"

"You humans are weak." Deax exclaimed. "I heard that you don't even make it to one hundred! A healthy dwarf can live to maximum two hundred!"

"Ha ha ha! Your kidding me right? Grax is close to three hundred and your what only thirty four?" Martin said as he continued to lead them.

"I'm thirty six!" Deax hissed, "What's it to you?"

Lorain and Myra glanced at each other; each other's faces mirroring the same surprise. "Wow" they both exclaimed, Deax didn't look thirty-seven. Deax looked like he was a very short twenty year old with a thick beard.

Suddenly Martin stopped, "Here we are!" he said. He was standing in front of a hole in the small cavern ceiling. There was a rope ladder hanging down. "It leads to one of the rooms in the Inn."

"Grax is so going to Jail for this; dwarfs are not to go to the surface!" Deax exclaimed.

"Alright let me tell you why that statement is wrong; number one, Jail is dead. Number two; Grax could never be caught by the likes of you and number three; I'll kill you if you do!" Martin exclaimed.

"Jeesh, and you call me a hot head!" Deax exclaimed.

"All right, I'll go first." Martin whispered as he mounted the ladder. Everyone followed with K'linne now in last place instead of Deax. At the top he lifted a trap door and went up.When Myra reached the top of the hole she felt something grab her from behind. She opened her mouth to scream but a hand covered it.

"Be quiet, it's just me!" Martin hissed, then he pointed to the bulky figure laying on the bed. "Normally, we don't rent out this room; we must be full up."

The rest of the company slowly made it up with K'linne at the end wheezing and huffing, "Ah, we are done at last!" he exclaimed. The figure on the bed began to snore making Myra wish she was in a bed of her own and sound asleep. How long had it been since she had slept last? How long had it been since she had eaten? How long had they been in those caverns?

Martin closed the trap door with a loud squeal and sighed. The figure grunted and slowly rose. "So, I have you at last!" he boomed. The figure was six feet tall and large and muscular.

Lorain seemed to shrink from the imposing figure. "Go away!" she whispered.

"Pretty little Nariol, you know I can't leave you alone. You are forever mine!" he growled. He grabbed Lorain and threw he over his shoulder. Lorain had been standing next to Myra so she caught a glimpse of his face; he was terrifyingly beautiful. He was sickly pale with gaunt features and his eyes were dark and full of malice.

"What you looking at?" the man grinned showing two pointy teeth. _Vampire_ Myra thought as she stared at his pearly whites. He slowly moved to the window. Desperately Myra looked him in the eye making him stagger backwards. He grinned even wider, "Guilt doesn't work on me… I don't have a heart!" He laughed wildly as he climbed out the window into the dark world outside. Myra stared at the place he had just been and collapsed into heap.

"Oh, what did that girl see? The horrors she must have seen!" K'linne said as he stared at her immobile body.

"Did I miss something?" Deax said as he crawled out from underneath the table he was hiding under. "What just happened?"

"Coward!" Martin hissed, "You shouldn't have hid! Now Lorain is gone and Myra has fainted!"

"I didn't see you do anything Mr. I'm so brave!" Deax growled. Suddenly they were on the floor in a fistfight. "I'll kill you!"

"Oh, just wait until I get my hands on you!"

"Die scum!"

"Is everything-" Greg suddenly appeared at the door. "What happened? Where's your niece and my customer? Why is your apprentice on the floor and who the heck is this? There had better be some explaining for this mess!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Rowan sat at the head of the large oak table. All the seats were filled with many important and powerful people. Everything they said would affect the kingdom and as semi-king Rowan was in charge of it all. It made his mouth run dry at the thought about all the responsibility on his shoulders and he only took care of half of the duties a king normally did.

As his father was away in the war the local duties of the castle fell to Rowan, as his father could not be bothered by such tasks. Rowan gulped and continued to listen to Lord Hezan as he rattled on about whatever he was talking about. Rowan had never realized how hard it must be to be king, and he felt like he would crumple under the weight. His father had somehow managed it all with a smile and time to spend time with his family. Rowan on the other hand could barely manage a small portion without scowling under the weight and little time to do anything other then eat and sleep.

Suddenly, he felt all the eyes in the room on him. His mouth ran dry and he glanced at Lord Hezan who was immensely enjoying himself. "Your highness, I asked you what we should do about the increasingly growing population of rats." Lord Hezan said with a sneer that only Rowan could see because all eyes were fixed on him. Rowan almost gasped when he realized who Lord Hezan was, it was his old rival, Keeman, who he had more then once played a joke on him when they were younger. Rowan couldn't remember when Keeman had been named "Lord" but all he knew was that he needed to think of a good response and quickly.

"Have you not hired a piper?" Rowan said with a smile, everyone laughed biding him more time.

"Your highness, such foolishness! Pipers are merely fiction!" Keeman said, adding to the laughter.

"Really, and what deems them so?" Rowan said with feigned interest.

"Need I say? It is impossible to-" Keeman said before he was interrupted by Peking's chair scraping against the stone floor. Keeman glared.

"And what is impossible? Every day the sorcerers come up with new ways to help the kingdom, how is anything impossible?" Peking said.

"Well-"

"Nothing is impossible, Keeman, I have seen the impossible occur many times and the possibility of you being here seemed quite impossible to me until I saw you here, with my very own eyes." Rowan said as Keeman glared but said nothing; he could say no more he had been ridiculed. Everyone in the room was silent as Keeman sat down. "Now, where were we?" Rowan said as they continued.

"Rowan!" Peking said after the meeting was adjourned.

"Oh, Peking" Rowan said turning around to his best friend. Peking was a head taller than Rowan, he had long thick black hair that was tied into a ponytail and he had a big smile on his face

"That's all you say? To your best friend?" Peking said with a laugh as he put his arm on Rowan's shoulder.

"Hey, lover boys!" Keeman said from behind making them turn around.

"Oh, if it isn't Lord Smezan, or is it Lord Screechman?" Peking said angrily.

"I wouldn't be laughing, Peking" Keeman said with a hissing sound.

"And why is that Screechman?" Rowan asked.

"Oh don't you seem so confident now that your substituting as king while your father's away. You and I both know that you are just a weak little boy struggling and when you fall no one will be there to pick you up!" Keeman said sneering. Rowan blushed; he knew it was true.

"Oh" Peking said, "And who let you into the meetings? That's right, you killed your own father for that title of "Lord." Unless the rumors aren't true." Peking said with a smile on his lips.

"You may laugh now, but one day I will have the last laugh, on both of you!" Keeman said furiously as he stalked off.

"Thanks" Rowan said with a sigh.

"What did I do? I was just protecting a friend!" Peking said with a smile, "What happened to the dynamic duo? The terror of the castle, who will they strike next?" Peking said.

Rowan grunted, "They were lost to responsibility."

"You know what your problem is?"

"What?"

"You've forgotten how to live"

"Peking, I have duties to attend to…" Rowan said with a sigh as Ornella poked her head from a doorway.

"Rowan, I'll attend to them… after all you need a break. You've been working yourself too hard, go on, go with Peking." Ornella said seriously.

"Honestly, you act more like a mother then a sister, but if I can get an afternoon off, I'll accept it." Rowan said.

"Get out of here," Ornella said, "And don't get him into too much trouble Peking!"

Peking made a mock bow, "Wouldn't dream of it, my lady!" He grabbed Rowan's arm and they ran off.

"Honestly, boys" Ornella said rolling her eyes.

Peking and Rowan were sitting beside the lake outside of the castle. They were contemplating whether or not to go swimming in the chilly lake. Before they knew it they were both splashing each other wildly with the cold water and they were drenched.

"I heard you told K'linne I was getting married." Peking said once the water fight had slowed down.

"I did?" Rowan said glancing at Peking.

"Yeah, the day you passed out during dinner" Peking said before adding, "I spilled my drink everywhere…" Rowan gave him a blank look, "You know it was the highlight of the evening?"

"That does sound vaguely familiar"

"Are you serious?" Peking said suddenly worried.

"Don't worry I remember it, it's just slightly fuzzy… probably has to do with being drunk" Rowan said glancing at Peking.

"But of course I have nothing to do with that-" Peking said with a smile playing on his lips.

"Just that you drank the other keg" Rowan said as he splashed Peking.

"Hey, you said you wanted to celebrate!" Peking said splashing Rowan.

"No, I said I wanted to forget"

"What?"

"The girl…"

"K'linne's new apprentice?"

"No, though I hate that girl…"

"It's rude not to hate anyone even if you are royalty." Peking said very seriously.

Rowan groaned, "Don't remind me"

"So, what girl?" Peking said staring intently at his friend's face.

"You know, the one I met at the ball?"

"We meet lots of girls at balls." Peking said with a mischievous grin. He was a wonderful dancer and was a well sought after dance partner. Rowan on the other hand, was horrible and tripped over the ladies' long skirts.

"The Autumn Ball, last year, she was the one with the dark blue dress and long light blonde hair tied into a braid and-" Rowan coughed as Peking splashed water at him.

"Enough, I get who you mean, the weird girl… she didn't fit in, like a dragon hiding in the middle of a flock of sheep"

"I thought she was wonderful!" Rowan said sincerely.

"Only you would like a bizarre girl like that, she didn't fit in." Peking said rolling his eyes.

Rowan closed his eyes, _Neither do I_ he thought grimly but he was born a prince and it was his right to one day be king.

"Why did you want to forget her?" Peking asked.

"Because…" Rowan looked for the right words he almost said he loved her but Peking would just scoff, "She took something of mine"

"Oooh, so you're a man now? Man, it took you long enough!" Peking said with a laugh. "Just kidding, what did the girl take? You could have her arrested for stealing something of a royal person."

"It's no big deal besides it's getting late, we should probably head up." Rowan said glancing at the sun. He sighed thinking of the bit of his heart that had been stolen away by that lovely girl.

"Sure, but remember this is your day off, don't go off and work." Peking said mockingly.

"You sound just like Ornella" Rowan said with a laugh.

"Exactly"

"Want to get into the castle the hard way?" Rowan asked with a glint in his eye.

"Oh yeah! Why did you think I wanted to come here anyways?" Peking said as he dove into the water. Rowan followed his lead into the depths of the mighty Lake Taweb. Down and down they swam until they reached an underground cavern. They swam into it, and eventually they reached the end of the cavern where it led into Peking's underground quarters. "Have you ever wondered why that was there?"

"Probably an escape route incase of attacks…" Rowan said as he glanced down at his wet things, "Got any dry clothes?"

"Oh yes, I've even got some of your things from our other adventures."

"You do know this was probably our last"

"True, but at least I can travel." Peking said with a silly grin.

Peking's father was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and was the king's best friend. It was only natural that he follow in his father's footsteps. Peking was just like his father; good with people, languages, culture, and wine. Rowan on the other hand felt uncomfortable around people and tended to blend in with walls unless he had to be seen, but he was a good liar, not that it was good trait for a king to have. He was average with languages and with people's culture but was horrible with deciding good wine. Peking also was great with a sword and seemed almost perfect except for his playfulness. Rowan was quiet and preferred the bow to a sword but being royalty a sword was necessary; who ever heard of a king leading his men into battle with a bow?

They quickly got dressed and smoothed down their clothes as they walked to the dining hall, "I'm glad I took a break" Rowan said addressing Peking.

"So am I" Ornella's voice came from behind them, "You needed it, but I don't see what's so difficult." Ornella's blond hair seemed to glisten and her pale pink dress made her look older then thirteen. Rowan sighed, Peking and Ornella looked more royal then he did. Ornella had always been a star at everything, she had managed the queen and princess duties perfectly since she was eight years old and never batted a pretty little eyelash. He on the other hand, could barely manage his duties as a prince let alone some of the duties meant for his father. Peking would help his father then run off wildly with Rowan but he always finished his duties and was responsible. "Shall we?" Ornella said offering her arms to the boys.

"We shall" Peking said with a grin as he and Rowan linked arms with her as they entered the dining hall.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Myra groaned and opened her eyes. She was lying on a small but rather comfortable bed in the middle of a cozy little room with a fire place probably meant to warm winter nights. There was an old rocking chair in the corner and a dresser next to the wall.

"Where am I?" she whispered. Her mouth felt dry and she wondered wherever she was if there was water nearby.

"Shhh, it's alright. You need to sleep; you need to regain your strength. This will give you lovely dreams." A voice said but before Myra could see who it was a spoon was pushed into her mouth. Whatever the liquid was, it tasted like fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Myra gulped it greedily down and sank into the pleasant realm of dreams.

K'linne opened the door a crack. He peered in to see Myra sleeping peacefully on the bed with a serene smile playing on her lips.

"It's best to let her sleep"

"Ah, oh, Belinda!" K'linne exclaimed. "You scared me"

"She's a good kid" Belinda said smiling.

"Yes, yes, she is"

"It's too bad she has to be included on this mess" Belinda sighed, "It's a cruel world we live in, K'linne that children like her have to be involved." K'linne nodded sadly; what other choice did they have?

"We were once children, Belinda. We fought the battle even younger than she."

"Yes, but our battles didn't hold the fate of the kingdom" Belinda paused as her words sank in. "K'linne promise me that you will keep her safe, in memory of Kea. Maybe, with you watching out for her, she will have a better fate then poor Kea." Belinda said as a tear ran down her cheek.

"I will, for her sake as well as your own and in memory of Kea" K'linne said as he hugged Belinda comfortingly.

"Belinda, have you been in the room since we laid her down on the bed?"

"No, why?"

"I could have sworn I heard someone in there"

"Maybe it was Martin or Greg or even Adie?"

"Maybe"

"Let's put it from our minds, let's go join everyone for breakfast" Belinda said smiling. K'linne looked at her, thinking about the time when her ebony black hair wasn't streaked with silver. As well as when her pale skin wasn't broken by wrinkles, and her stunning figure wasn't ruined by childbirth. He looked at his life long friend thinking about how much he had loved this woman when she was young. He thought about the friendship between him and Greg that had turned sour because of this woman. Then it had mended because of maturity and this woman. How it had ended with K'linne accepting that his duty was to his country rather then his heart. He had learned to live with his choice and how at times he envied Greg yet would loath to be in Greg's position. K'linne followed her wondering how different his life would have been but at the same time he knew he would make the same choice over and over. Yes, he loved this woman but he also loved the people that had come into his life because of his choice. His love was now no more then how much he loved Ornella and Rowan. Maybe one day he could love a woman like he had loved Belinda but he doubted he ever could.

When Belinda and K'linne entered the kitchen Deax and Martin were again rolling on the floor in a fistfight and the cook was staring at the two troublemakers furiously.

"Jen, why don't you take a break?" Belinda asked Jen sweetly.

"I think I will" Jen said as she backed away from the mess in the kitchen.

"K'linne, why don't you talk some sense into them? I'll go see how the customers are." Deax and Martin were oblivious to the intruders on their fight and continued.

"_Subsisto_!" K'linne hissed. They both froze in the middle of their fight.

"What did you do mage?" Deax exclaimed as he frowned at his immobile body. "When I get out of this I will kill you!"

"Hothead" Martin said as he rolled his eyes. "All I said is that you need to calm down."

"Be quiet!" Deax screamed, "I am going to kill you!"

"Hmph, all talk and no show" Martin laughed, "You are weak, Deax and you know it. Once dwarfs reach your age they don't change. We may be an equal match now, but I am still a child and I have much to learn. Deax, everyday I get stronger but you, you never change. You will always be a hot headed weakling!" Martin said laughing.

Deax growled, "A dwarf never forgets anything _elf_."

"Well, _dwarf_, an elf has more common sense and doesn't hold grudges."

"Yes, you won't even hold grudges against those who steal you away and cripple you! No, you praise them and defend them!" Deax spat. Martin seemed at loss for words so just growled. They growled and glared angrily into each other's eyes with vehemence.

"What are you two fighting about?" Myra asked from the doorway.

"Myra! You're awake!" Deax and Martin said in unison. Martin glared at Deax then gave Myra a smile. "Hungry?"

"Actually, I am starved!" Myra said as her stomach growled loudly. "_Subsisto reverso_!" Myra exclaimed when she noticed their immobile limbs. "Honestly K'linne you shouldn't waste your magic on such trivial matters like those two fighting."

"Here's some porridge" Deax said as he filled a bowl full of some from the pot over the fire. Myra grabbed the bowl and dug in.

"So, where's Lorain?" Myra asked as she shoveled the stew into her mouth. The three males stared at her and the silence engulfed the room. "I guess I thought that was just a dream." Myra said weakly. Myra turned to K'linne, "Are we going to save her?"

"Myra, we will do anything in our power to save poor Lorain from her horrible predicament but first you need to rest."

"K'linne, I have no time for rest! My friend is in danger and I think it is my duty to save her from that kidnapper! He is going to kill her!" Myra exclaimed appalled by K'linne's lack of concern.

"Myra, he isn't going to kill her."

"Oh, that's good" Myra let out a sigh of relief.

"He is going to drain her of most of her blood and then turn him into a monster like himself."

"WHAT?!"

"The vampire, Rakesh, was in Lorain's village on his way to some vampire affair outside of our kingdom when he noticed a small girl stop a mad stallion from trampling everything. Intrigued, he decided to miss his previous engagement to watch this strange little girl. He watched her as she and her ability with animals grew. He first confronted her on her tenth birthday. While hiding his true nature he offered her a single rose as a birthday present and said he would bring her another present on her twelfth birthday. He told her to keep his present a secret and Lorain did. On her twelfth birthday, her parents and I were having her birthday dinner when a man walked into the house. He said his name was Rakesh and that Lorain and himself were leaving that evening. Lorain's parents were stunned at the blunt stranger and asked him what business they had with their daughter. Rakesh laughed and pointed at Loraine telling them to ask her. Lorain quickly told about her past meeting with the strange man. She told him that she didn't know that it was a way of an engagement and that if she had known she would have never accepted the flower. I asked him to leave and forget the whole thing but he smiled and showed his fangs. I at once knew what he was quickly put a barrier around Lorain, her parents and I. They pleaded with me to take Lorain away to safety and return for them. I left my barrier and transported both Lorain and myself to the castle. In revenge he killed her whole village. He must have been looking for her all these years. Now, he has taken her to live with him and will not want to give her back." K'linne said with a sigh."

"So, we are up against a crazed vampire" Myra said stunned, "We can take him"

"There is no way I am going to go looking for a vampire!" Deax exclaimed. "They are the undead!"

"Oh, is the _dwarf _scared?"

"I am not scared_ elf_, I am just being precautionary."

"Right"Martin laughed, "When do we go?"


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

_Rowan sat beside Lake Taweb and stared into its depths. It was daybreak and he hadn't slept one bit. At one point in the night he had been restless that he decided that he needed to take a walk to go think. He had quietly crept out of his bedchamber and made his way down to the shore of the beautiful lake. He couldn't stop thinking of Her. Every night her thought of Her but lately his longing for her had increased immensely. _

_Suddenly, her heard the soft padding of someone behind him. His muscles tensed as he waited for the person to appear. He glanced down at the water and saw Her. He turned around and there she was, smiling at him. _

_"Rowan" She whispered into his ear. The mere sound of her voice gave Rowan the shivers._

_"You're here" Rowan replied._

_She laughed, "I said I'd be back didn't I?" Her pale porcelain skin seemed almost translucent in the morning light. She wore a large black tunic and leggings but it made her look even more beautiful then when she wore the blue dress at the ball._

_Suddenly, the clouds covered the rising sun and it became dark._

_"What's happening?" Rowan stared in horror as She dissolved into nothingness._

_"Hello, Rowan!" A bitter voice exclaimed._

_Rowan turned to see his evil half-brother glaring at him. "You! What did you do with her?" Rowan's half-brother laughed making Rowan cringe._

_"Do I spy a weakness my dear brother? You will see her again; just not in one piece if you know what I mean." He sneered._

_"Don't you harm one hair on her head or I'll-"_

_"What? Tell your little Daddy to punish me?" He laughed, "He's trying but he can't win! No one can stop me, Rowan! Least of all you! I have both royal bloodlines in me! I am both human and dragon; I will rule both kingdoms!"_

_"No!"_

_"Yes, my dear brother!" He laughed wickedly and disappeared._

_"No! Come back here!"_

Rowan awoke in a cold sweat in his bedchamber. He gasped for air as he tried to sort out his thoughts. Was it just a dream or was it a vision? If it was a vision did that mean he was King? Or could his half-brother had found out a way to reach out to him in dreams? Rowan didn't know but he knew these thoughts would plague him.

"Rowan, is everything alright?" Eldwin, Rowan's manservant and friend asked him.

"Just a bad dream, old friend; nothing more" Rowan replied.

"It must have been pretty bad then; you were tossing and turning. You kept screaming out your brother's name over and over again." The old man shuddered. "Your brother being in your dreams is a bad omen I think.

"No Eldwin; it was just a dream. It was just a dream, I am sure of it." Rowan said more confidently than he felt. He looked at the old man's worried face and sighed. "I'm positive it was nothing Eldwin."

Eldwin nodded but didn't look satisfied. He ran his fingers though his salty gray hair and sighed. "If you need to talk about anything, my prince, I will be in my quarters." Rowan cringed as Eldwin said those horrible words: my prince. How Rowan hated those words. He hated being a prince he just wasn't cut out for the job.

"Eldwin"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever been in love?" Eldwin shook his head and sighed.

"No, but I have heard it is painful and not for the faint of heart."

"Oh" Rowan sighed.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Greg and Belinda sat in the kitchen with their only daughter: Aide. "I'll miss that boy" Belinda said softly.

"Will he ever come back Mommy?" Adie asked. Her little seven year old eyes were brimming with tears.

"I don't know, honey, but I'm sure K'linne will keep them all safe." Belinda whispered to her little daughter.

"I think we're better off without him" Greg said gruffly. "He is a half-blood after all and half-bloods are no good. I mean look what happened to the king!"

"But Daddy, Martin's half elf not dragon." Aide said.

"Elves are no good Adie. The Folk are no good."

"Why? All the stories say that we used to be friends with them." Adie asked.

"We also were enemies with a lot of them, Adie. By interfering with them we bring both the good and the bad." Greg said as he thought of his youth and his experiences with the bad Folk.

"Is Martin bad?" Aide asked.

"We don't know that now do we?" Greg laughed making his daughter cower bury her face into her mother's dress.

"Gregor Milford! Quit scaring your little daughter those horrible thoughts!" Belinda exclaimed angrily. Her face softened as her daughter looked up at her mother questioningly.

"Is he bad, Mommy?"

"No, of course not!" Belinda said reassuringly. "Why don't you go see if the horses need fed?"

"Okay, my pony probably wants some company." Adie said smiling as she skipped out of the room.

"Belinda, she needs to grow up sometime." Greg shrugged.

"Yes, but she doesn't need to grow up all at once at age seven!" Belinda exclaimed.

"Come on honey, I barely even touched the subject." Greg said softly.

"K'linne wouldn't do that."

"Oh come on honey, don't bring up him."

"I'll bring up whoever I want to!"

"K'linne has nothing to do with you or me anymore. Don't start an argument you can't win." Greg said angrily.

"I'll say it again! K'linne wouldn't do that! HE wouldn't treat me or my children like this! He wouldn't care if Martin is half-elf or if he was mute!" Belinda exclaimed.

"Then why didn't you marry HIM?!" Greg replied furiously.

"Because he wouldn't let me! He wouldn't put me in such a siuation that I couldn't have a normal safe life!" Belinda hissed, "He thought I would have a better life with you! He was going to break his own heart for my happiness! Do you love that much that you would risk your own happiness for mine? Would you,_ honey?" _Greg was so stunned by Belinda's outburst that he just stared at her. "No? Why did I even bother to marry you then? Greg, I will put up with our marriage for our children's sake but know this; I do not love you."

K'linne sat on his horse stiffly and rode in the lead with Myra and Martin following close behind. Deax who was too short to ride sat on the supplies on top of Cally. "Oh the horror!" Deax groaned as he gripped on for dear life.

"It suits you, dwarf!" Martin laughed. For once, Deax seemed to have lost all the fight in him.

"Martin, are you going to miss your family?" Myra asked.

"Myra, I would love to say I will but somehow I think I won't. I was more of a serving boy to them then a son. Greg was always staring angrily at me and Belinda always was frowning in my direction." Martin sighed.

"What about your brothers and Adie?"

"The boys hated me and treated me like I wasn't there and Adie always seemed embarrassed by me; I think families are overrated. What about you?" Martin smiled.

"I've never had one so… I think they would be nice." Myra said dreamily.

"Oh, I had no idea." Martin said quickly, "Grax was more of a family to me than my human family; he taught me so much more than them and he was so much nicer despite the whole stealing my voice thing." Martin said as he thought of Grax.

"What about you K'linne?" Myra asked. K'linne grunted but other then that didn't say anything.

"Myra" whispered Martin, "Don't pry; that's a touchy subject."

"Why and how do you know?"

"Well, did you notice how he looked at Belinda?" Martin whispered, "He loves her but obviously she's married so he can't do anything."

"Oh"

Deax groaned, "When will we stop? I think I'm going to puke!"

"Don't you dare puke on our supplies!" Martin glared at Deax.

"You do look a little green around the edges." Myra sighed. "K'linne, can we stop? Deax needs a break." K'linne didn't say anything but continued to ride, "K'linne!"

"What? Oh of course!" K'linne said shaking his head. He dismounted and sighed; he missed Belinda.

Once everyone had dismounted and tied up the horses. They all had sat down for an early lunch. "Mind if I take a nap?" Myra yawned.

"Go ahead, but only a short one; we'll be leaving in two hours." K'linne said.

Myra smiled, "Thanks, passing out doesn't give you much energy." Laid her head against a tree and slowly drifted off to sleep.

_"Myra" Corin smiled, "Did you get past the dragon?"_

_"Yes, but the dwarves won't help us. The king said we had to get out or he would kill us. He also, made his nephew come with us to 'toughen him up' because he's all talk and no show." Myra thought she saw Corin grin at the thought of the dwarf._

_"What happened next?"_

_"Well, Lorain was kidnapped by a crazed vampire and so we're off to rescue her."_

_"You, K'linne and a weak little dwarf are going to fight a vampire?" Corin laughed making Myra blush._

_"Yes, and Martin too."_

_"Who?"_

_"Martin, didn't I tell you about him?" Myra asked confused._

_"No"_

_"Well, he's a half-elf who was kidnapped by a mute dwarf, so the dwarf could speak. He was then left at the mouth of the caverns and Greg, the owner of the inn raised him." Myra paused, "Are you sure I didn't tell you about him? I mean, he was the one who slayed the dragon."_

_"Forget about it" Corin said quickly, "So your up against a vampire, huh?"_

_"Well, yeah." Myra replied._

_"Do you guys have any weapons?"_

_"I think so. K'linne has his staff and magic. I have my magic and I'm pretty sure Martin has a dagger." Corin's face seemed to darken at Martin's name. "Deax probably has a weapon too."_

_"The best way to fight a vampire is to stab it in the heart with a stake. You could also douse him with holy water but I can't think of where you would get that." Corin said as he thought of where Myra could get some._

_"Corin, how do you know so much about the Folk?" Myra asked._

_"I have a lot of time on my hands so I read a lot and I retain about ninety-seven percent of the information I read." Corin said._

_"Why do you have to be so smart?" Myra said feeling quite stupid._

_"I'm a quick learner" Corin said his face darkening._

_"I am too, but ninety-seven percent! I would love to see your IQ level." Myra exclaimed._

_"Whatever that is" Corin murmured. "Don't you have a journey or something?"_

_"Well, yes but…"_

_"Visit me when you get rid of that kidnapping vampire!" Corin smiled thinly as he disappeared and Myra opened her eyes.  
_


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"How was your nap, sleepy head?" Deax smiled.

"Your in a good mood" Myra yawned.

"Well, the _elf _went with K'linne to go find some freshwater because he forgot to fill the water skins." Deax laughed.

"You emptied them didn't you?" Myra groaned.

"Of course not!" Deax said laughing.

"You did. Your laughing and not yelling at me so you did it"

"Alright, I did but I knew there had to be water near by so I emptied them before we left. You should have seen K'linne's face when he went to take a drink! It was hilarious and then when he yelled at Martin!" Deax laughed, "It was really good"

"At least you do laugh; I thought your face was always set in a frown." Myra said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Deax said hotly.

"You are always angry; like right now you got angry at the slightest thing!" Myra said shaking her head.

"Oh, I guess I learned that from my Uncle." Deax said softly, "He was always known as a hothead."

"Oh, what a touching conversation" a voice whispered.

"Did you hear that?" Myra asked Deax.

"No, all I can hear is the birds chirping." Deax said his brow furrowed.

"Ooh, she's looking our way. Should we get rid of her?"

"No, she's just a human she can't see us or hear us."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure; as long as we don't want her to see us she can't." A man appeared from out of the shadows and waved his hand in front of her face making her blink.

"But she watched you come out from behind the tree and blinked when you moved your hand in front of her face. She saw you!"

"Of course she didn't!"

"Actually, I did see you and I could hear both of you." Myra interjected.

"Ah!" The man jumped.

"See I told you!" A woman came from behind a tree and laughed at her companion.

"What are you?" Myra asked as she took in their leafy garments and green hair.

"Myra, are you all right?" Deax asked.

"We are dryads or wood spirits." The female said smiling.

"Aren't dryads all supposed to be girls?"

The male dryad glared at Myra, "Some the best dyads in the world were males!"

"Juvor!" The female dryad rolled her eyes, "I am Naoki and this is Juvor. So what brings you to our woods?"

"Well, my friend got kidnapped by a vampire and we're off to go rescue her." Myra replied.

"You don't mean Rakesh do you?" Juvor gulped.

"Well, yeah."

"Oh please don't go after him!" Naoki pleaded. "He's lots of trouble; you'll be dead the moment he sees you!"

"Do you like us Dryads?" Juvor asked.

"Well yes, but-"

"Then it's settled we are taking you to Aine! You can be a dryad too!" Naoki laughed.

"But I have to save Loraine!"

"Forget about Lorain; you're going to be a dryad!"

"No but…"

"Myra, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation with this invisible person but-" Deax interrupted.

"Help me Deax!" Myra exclaimed as the Dryads pulled her towards the woods.

"Alright, get off of her!" Deax exclaimed.

"He could cause trouble, Juvor. Please get put him asleep." Naoki exclaimed.

Juvor walked over to Deax and put some powder onto him, "Sleep little man, sleep"

"What was that?" Myra asked appalled, "What did you do to him?"

"Juvor just put some sleeping dust on him; he's okay." Naoki smiled, "You'll like being a dryad; it's lots of fun." Naoki said as she carried Myra away.

"_Subsisto_!" Myra screamed making Naoki freeze. "I don't want to be a dryad!"

"Are you sure?" Juvor asked Myra.

"YES!"

"Then you can be a water sprite or a fairy!" Juvor smiled as he lunged at her.

"No! _Subsisto!"_Myra squealed as Juvor froze in midair.

Myra ran towards where she thought she heard Deax snoring, "Deax! Martin! K'linne!" She continued to run but whichever way she went the snoring didn't seem to get any closer. "I'm so lost!" Myra exclaimed after hours of walking and going nowhere. She finally sat down in defeat.

"No your not!" Juvor and Naoki smiled as they walked out from the shadows. "Your right on your way to the fairy queen Aine." The last thing Myra saw was their smiling faces as they sprinkled the sleeping dust on her."


End file.
